


Still Waters Run Deep

by Drachesoul



Category: Glee, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Glee AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1269715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drachesoul/pseuds/Drachesoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and from the moment I was old enough to receive my first starter Pokémon, I knew that I work hard to become the best Trainer in Johto. Fast forward seven years, to my second year in Trainer School and I realized that my dream would be a little harder to achieve than I originally thought. I watched on T.V. as Trainers such as Santana Lopez from Hoenn and Quinn Fabray from Kalos defeated their champions and entered the Hall of Fame, to forever be immortalized. <br/>So I figured if I wanted to be the best then I needed to go to school with the best.But some things are easier said than done. Welcome to the Kalos Academy and to my story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Genesis

Episode 1: Genesis  
“Diantha, I don’t get why we have to do all of these things to prepare,” Quinn Fabray complained, staring listlessly out of the car window at the scenery rolling by. Her Glaceon sat snuggled in her lap, content with snoozing the whole car ride away.

“Quinn, you’re one of the few people to become a Hall of Fame Trainer, and as such you must treat your fans well. They’ve propelled you to stardom and now it’s time to give back,” the Champion replied smoothly. “You’re going back to the Academy to finish your schooling there, but in between your classes there are people who expect you to fulfill your end of the bargain.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. She did not sign up for all of this. Granted, she didn’t think she would ever make it through the entire Kalos gym circuit, much less challenge and defeat the Elite Four. She liked the fame at first, enjoying the long lines of fans that shouted her praises and asked for autographs. 

“Are you thinking about it again?” Diantha asked softly, turning to face Quinn. “I know it’s only been a couple of months since it happened, but don’t you think he’d want you to go through with it? After all, you couldn’t have done any of this without him.”

She had been on top of the world. But the higher the pedestal, the harder the fall, Quinn figured. Less than a month after her victory over Diantha, she had her world torn apart. Dante, Quinn thought. Her faithful Charizard, the Pokémon that she’d been partnered with for years had suddenly and unexpectedly fallen ill. 

He was sick for a very long time, and even the best of healers couldn’t find what was wrong with him. Quinn remembered being at dinner with some of her friends when she received the phone call. The next day, she was standing in Lavender Town in the Kanto region, laying a boquet of flowers near a silver plaque. 

Of course the entire region mourned with her. They saw it as the tragic tale of a champion Pokémon cut down in his prime, but for Quinn, who had raised him from a tiny Charmander, it was far more personal and heart-wrenching.

The car rolled to a stop at a fancy wrought-iron gate, and within seconds the car was surrounded by young men and women screaming their heads off and waving little signs shaped like Quinn’s face. It took the gate guard and his three Mightyena to stave off the crowd long enough for the car to scoot through.

“Quinn? Quinn!” Diantha shook the blonde’s shoulder and disrupted her reverie. Glaceon whined and pawed at her Trainer. “We’re here.”

“Oh, sorry. I guess I should get going. I still have the same room, yeah?” Quinn avoided the Champion’s gaze as she gathered up her things and opened the back door. She didn’t want Diantha to see the lone tear that rolled down her face. 

Recalling Glaceon back into her Pokéball, Quinn snapped the ball onto her belt and walked the familiar route back to her dorm room. She climbed up the flight of stairs in front of Dorm 1 and was about to reach the top she suddenly collided with something small and sturdy. She was bounced back down the stairs, where she rolled to a stop, her muscles groaning in protest. “Ow, what the fuck?”  
XXX

From the moment Rachel Berry saw Diantha crown a new Kalos Champion, she knew she had to meet the blonde Trainer. She even caught herself an Eevee, which she hoped would soon evolve into a Glaceon, like Quinn’s. There was only one problem. 

Rachel lived in Johto, a long distance from the far-off Kalos region. Transportation between the two was expensive to say the least, and a three day journey to boot. Rarely were planes chartered to travel that distance, as they had to make stopovers in Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova before reaching Kalos. In fact, there were only two reasons to charter a plane to Kalos. 

One was to obtain a region passport and officially move there, a process wich could take years to come to fruition, and Rachel simply didn’t have the time. The second was far more manageable, if harder to obtain in her case. If Rachel wanted to meet Quinn Fabray in Kalos, she had to travel with a student visa. 

Rachel currently attended one of the Johto Region’s best Trainer schools, and maintained high enough grades to be considered for a transfer program. She had dutifully filled out the paperwork and registered her team with the appropriate organizations and just last week had received her letter of approval from the school in Kalos.   
Granted, she may have embellished her transcripts just a little bit. (Her Typhlosion hadn’t beaten that many opponents) Nevertheless, the Kalos Academy for Gifted Trainers was happy to accept her as a transfer student. 

Now three days later, she was walking up the road, pink rolling suitcase in one hand and town map in the other. She turned right at the next intersection and was immediately blocked by a growing crowd of fans. What is going on here? She wondered, stowing away her map and tightening her grip on her belongings. Rachel was shoved forward as the crowd grew larger and began chanting. “Quinn! Quinn! QUINN! QUINN!”

Oh how she wished she could call her Typhlosion out and get rid of all the fanboys and girls. She stood on her tiptoes to glean just the slightest glance of a black van being stopped at the gate. Her heart suddenly beat faster, and she just knew that Quinn Fabray was in that van. Rachel had to restrain herself from turning into a crazed fan, lest people catch on to her true plan. 

The one thing her new school had adamantly declared upon her acceptance: No bothering their celebrity students. Quinn Fabray wasn’t the only celebrity attending their school. Santana Lopez, a Hall of Famer from Kanto, Artie Abrams, an elite Pokémon Breeder and Brittany Pierce, a champion coordinator from Hoenn also attended school there. So that meant absolutely no cameras other than the ones on cell phones, no ambushing them for autographs or advice, and definitely no battles with them unless sanctioned by staff. 

Rachel was driven back as the crowd suddenly dispersed, no doubt thanks to the three snarling Mightyena herding people away from the van. She watched as it crawled through a tiny opening in the front gate before the wrought-iron gate shut behind it. 

“Hey, you! What are you doing here?” Officer Jenny asked, pointing at Rachel and waiting for an explanation. Her Pokémon flanked her and growled.

“Uh, hi. My n-name is Rachel Berry and I just transferred here.” She reached into her backpack for the transcripts and letters she had received just in case she was questioned further.

Officer Jenny scoffed, “Yeah, right. Do you know how many boys and girls say that in order to get inside these gates?”

“No, really, I have my papers and everything!” She handed over the documents and waited patiently as Officer Jenny carefully pored over every single page, no doubt checking for even the slightest error or discrepancy. 

Rachel heard a sigh and was handed her papers back, before being waved through the gate with nothing more than a reluctant, “Go on then. You don’t want to be late for morning classes. The office is located in the largest building, they’ll want to see you before you start.”

Rachel’s face dissolved into a huge grin, as she thanked Officer Jenny and bounced through the gate. I’m in! 

The farther she walked, the more she was impressed. Johto’s campus was a decent size, but was absolutely nothing compared to the Kalos Academy. It must’ve been three times the size of her old school, and from what she could see, it was filled with the latest state-of-the-art battling equipment and coordinating arenas.

A row of six grass-and-dirt stadiums were on her left, and she saw a few early risers out with their Pokémon, putting them through their paces and engaging in practice battles. On the other side of the main road she was on stood an outdoor arena that was not doubt home to practice contests. She saw a beautiful shiny Rapidash let loose with a dazzling Flame Charge attack, the red flames mixing with the silver of the Pokémon’s natural mane. 

Both areas led to a sprawling modern building that bustled with activity, even though it was only eight in the morning. She stopped in front of the glass double doors leading inside and took a deep breath. 

“All right, Rachel Berry, you have gotten this far. Johto is a long way from here, and as of this moment you are in the big leagues. You better not screw this up.” Rachel enjoyed giving herself pep talks, as it calmed her nerves whether she was standing in front of a large crowd before a major battle or preparing to give a speech to her fathers about the dangers of improperly grown Oran Berries.

Steeling herself, she rested her left hand on the doorknob before sighing and pushing the door open. Rachel whistled in surprise as she walked in on a magnificent scene. People and Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were busy attending to their morning tasks, and she had to stop and just experience everything. The diva walked to the center of the ground floor, where a directory had been placed for easy locating. She typed in the office number on the touch-screen and was told to head up to the third floor via the elevator, where Admissions and Transfers was located.

Rachel gathered her things and strolled over to the elevators, and was shuttled up to the third floor, where she needed to put the finishing touches on her enrollment. The third floor was even busier than the first, though she figured it was because this floor housed all of the Student Life offices as well as the Admissions people. Spotting a sign labeled Admissions and Transfers, she knocked politely on the door, which was answered by a Gardevoir. 

“May I help you?” a voice resounded in her mind. She took a step back before remembering that most Psychic Pokémon could communicate via telepathy, and smiled at the Pokémon. 

“Yes, I think you can. I’m Rachel Berry and I’m the new transfer student.” Rachel started to pull out her papers again, but the Gardevoir shook her head and ushered her inside with a small smile of her own. 

“We’ve been expecting you, Rachel Berry. Professor Sycamore would like to meet with you before you rush off to classes. His office is just inside to your right.” 

The diva thanked the Gardevoir and made a beeline for Professor Sycamore’s office. She paused and took a moment to spruce up her hair and get in the right mindset before approaching the professor. 

He sat at his desk, too busy typing notes on his computer to notice her arrival. Rachel cleared her throat and he jumped up in surprise, his glasses nearly slipping off his nose. “Ah, Ms. Berry, I presume.”

Rachel nodded and gave him her registration papers and transcript, which he took with a smile, gesturing for her to take a seat in one of the comfortable-looking chairs facing his desk. Setting her belongings on the ground next to her, she sat waiting for him to finish reading her documents, hands folded neatly in her lap.

“I see you come to us with a very impressive record from Johto, Rachel? Indeed, your grades are phenomenal, and your Pokémon seem like seasoned veterans at their craft. But I must ask, why choose to transfer here for the remainder of your schooling?”

She took a minute to think of her answer before saying sincerely, “While I love my home region very much, Professor, the Kalos Region seemed like the perfect place to get an education that’s focused on things other than battling or coordinating or breeding. I wanted a balance between my career as a Trainer and my responsibilities as a young adult about to venture into a world that’s not entirely dependant on the number of badges you own.”

Sycamore nodded and flipped to the next page in her registration. “A well-thought out answer, Rachel, and one that I think perfectly sums up what the Kalos Academy for Gifted Trainers is all about. Rest assured that not everything at this school is Pokémon, though most of it is. Students are required to take normal classes in addition to those in their chosen field of study, along with two electives per semester.”

Whew, that seems like a lot of work, she thought for a split second before dismissing the errant thought. She had been through a rigorous program before in Johto, and this one seemed no different, albeit less focused on battling. Rachel waited with bated breath while Sycamore made a few marks on her registration and opened his desk drawer to pull out a stamp. He marked the last page of the registration and pushed it back over to her, handing her a pen.

“Just sign here confirming your intention to register here, and your agreement to our rules and regulations.” Rachel grinned and signed her name, adding a star to the end of ‘Berry’. Pity her sheet of gold star stickers was buried amongst her clothes. “Well, Rachel Berry, welcome to the Kalos Region! Gardevoir here will direct you to Student Affairs, where you’ll get your locker assignment, dorm assignment and class schedule. We’ll give you until lunch to find everything and get settled in your room.”

“Thank you, Professor Sycamore,” Rachel bowed slightly and followed the Gardevoir out. She was directed to go down the hall, and take the next right, where Student Affairs was located. 

This section of the floor looked a lot less stiff and formal then the rest of the building, covered in announcement boards, Trainer Tips and Pokémon stat sheets. She made her way to the front desk there and was greeted by a bubbly blonde, who was rolling back and forth across her office space on the wheeled chair. Rachel’s eyes widened. The girl looked awfully familiar… 

“Hi, you must be Rachel. I’m Brittany Pierce, the Student Director of Student Affairs…or something like that!” The champion coordinator offered her hand, which Rachel took happily. Brittany turned her gaze back to the computer and typed a few things into the system before handing Rachel a small binder. “I’m supposed to give you this. It’s a copy of all of the dorm rules and regulations, just to make sure you understand. Your locker number, default combination and schedule are already in one of the front pockets.” 

Rachel took the binder and flipped it open, taking a moment to memorize her locker combination. Having an eidetic memory came in handy sometimes. Brittany dug into her jean pocket and dug out a small gold key, which she used to unlock one of the file cabinets next to her desk. “This is your I.D. card, make sure you have it with you at all times, otherwise you won’t be able to buy lunch or attend any events. Trust me, I’ve lost mine so many times that I was told to just keep it around my neck.”

“I’ll keep it safe,” Rachel assured her, inserting the I.D. into her pink faux leather wallet. “Is there anything else? I kind of wanna explore a bit before lunch starts.”

“Just one more thing.” Using her feet to propel her chair across the room, Brittany unlocked a drawer to her right. “Your room assignment and key. Might wanna dump your things off in your room before heading to class.”

“Oh, thanks, I completely forgot about that.” She glanced at the inscription that had been lasered into her dorm key and noticed that she would be living in Dorm 1. “I guess I’ll see you around soon, then. It was nice to meet you Brittany.”

“You too, Rach!” Brittany waved to her as she turned around to leave. She seems really nice, Rachel thought. She was a champion coordinator after all. Pocketing her key and consulting her Town Map again, which had been updated to show a map of the Academy grounds, she took the elevator back down to the ground floor, and walking outside. Her next destination was Dorm 1.

According to her map, there were three different dorms at the Academy. All three were co-ed, though separated by floor so as to discourage fraternization. Dorm 1 seemed to be the primary dorm for those Trainers interested in competitive battling. 2 belonged to the Coordinators, and though Rachel couldn’t see much through the tinted glass, it seemed to be very vibrant and full of creative energy. The last dorm was home to the breeders, and those focused on either the breeder track or the healer track.

She was so focused on gleaning every last detail her map had to give her that she only had a split second to react before a figure crashed into her, sending her falling forwards and the other unfortunate soul backwards down the stairs. “That hurt…”

Turning around to apologize to whoever had collided with her, Rachel’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Lying sprawled at the bottom of the stairs and looking positively murderous was a beautiful blonde Trainer. “Quinn Fabray,” Rachel whispered in awe.

“Ow, what the fuck?”

XXX

Quinn levered herself into an upright position and scrambled around to collect her clothes, which had fallen out of her rolling suitcase during the tumble. “Man, that hurt.”

“I am so, so sorry,” a light female voice apologized, dashing down the stairs two at a time to assist the blonde. “I didn't think anyone was behind me.” 

Quinn finally turned around to face the other girl and had to stifle a snort. The girl she had run into was quite diminutive, at least a head shorter than the blonde, and was dressed in a garish pink animal sweater and back skinny jeans.

“You do realize there’s a uniform here, right?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking the brunette. “Which means that has to go?”

The tiny brunette shrugged off the veiled insult and shot Quinn a dazzling smile. “I’ve just transferred here and was just exploring the place. My name’s Rachel Berry.”   
Rachel held out her hand to help Quinn up and she took it warily. “Quinn Fabray. Look, just a friendly piece of advice to you, Berry. This school takes its rules and regulations seriously. I’d suggest you get out of that clown costume and into your uniform before you get in trouble.”

She placed a pair of sneakers in her suitcase and snapped the clasps shut before brushing past the brunette and walking back up the stairs and into Dorm 1. Fumbling with her keys, she found the correct ones and pushed open the door to her room. 

Quinn allowed herself to breathe as she took in the familiar sight of her room. All of the dorms here were exquisite in design and very spacious. Though each room was designed for two students, Quinn had used her status as a Hall of Famer to procure one just for herself. She claimed the bottom area for herself, leaving the upper loft untouched. A tight spiral staircase led up to the platform where a roommate was to stay, complete with second set of drawers and a bedside table.

To the left of her bed was a compact machine that was permanently hooked up to a power source. That little machine was what the Kalos Academy was famous for. With a student body nearing 500, each room was equipped with a pair of overnight healing machines. Students were to take their teams of Pokémon and place them in the machine, which would completely heal their Pokémon over the course of the night.

Turning on the machine, Quinn deposited her team into the machine to give them a bit of a power nap. Tears came unbidden to her eyes as she closed the machine, and looked at the five Pokéballs through the glass.

XXX

Classes didn’t start till after lunch for her, so she stowed her suitcase under her bed, and collapsed on the soft mattress, sighing heavily. She set her alarm for an hour and drifted off to sleep, already exhausted.

Oh my god, I ran into Quinn Fabray! Rachel tried not to panic as the blonde brushed past her and into Dorm 1. Most people would never get to meet the blonde trainer, let alone talk to her, and Rachel felt honored.

Well, mostly honored. Quinn Fabray did shoot her what sounded a lot like an insult, but even as the words fell out of her mouth, Rachel could tell that Quinn wasn’t all that serious. She glanced at her watch and gasped. It was already almost noon! She still had to rush to her locker to change clothes and dash over to the dining hall to grab lunch before afternoon classes started. 

Rachel got directions to the locker rooms from a pair of breeders walking to lunch and ran there as fast as she could. Upon opening her locker, she discovered that the uniform she was required to wear didn’t look all that bad. Rachel pulled off her sweater and stuffed it in her locker, putting on a white button-up shirt and black blazer. The diva looked around to make sure no one was watching and took off her jeans to replace it with a short skirt, also in black. Wrapped around the hanger that everything came on was a red tie with a black pin, a sticky note stuck to the end. 

This is your tie, and it represents the major track you have chosen. Red ties belong to the competitive battlers here, Blue to the coordinators and Green to the breeders. Within each dorm, there are floors, represented by the pin that is attached to the tie. The first floor of each dorm has a black pin, the second purple, and the third white. Throughout the academic year there are a variety of events that pit dorm against dorm or floor against floor in a show of friendly competition. I have no doubt that after a few days here, you will learn from the other students about these competitions. 

All the best,  
Professor Sycamore

Rachel put on her tie and smoothed it out, straightening all the creases in the brand-new material. Taking a look at herself in the mirror, she smiled. Not bad for a uniform. It showed off her legs in all the right places, and still had enough class to satisfy her. 

By the time she had finished getting dressed, lunch had passed and classes were starting in twenty minutes. Rachel slammed her locker door shut and grabbed her backpack, hoping that she wouldn’t be late to her very first class at the Academy. 

Now where am I supposed to go? I need classroom 104…oh, here it is. Luckily she still had about fifteen minutes to spare before the teacher got there, so she walked in and was immediately struck with a whiteboard marker.

“Nice shot, Karofsky,” a burly guy whooped, giving a high-five to the teenage boy next to him. “I’d give that twenty points. Ten for a headshot and ten because she’s the new transfer student.”

Rachel rubbed her forehead, and shot a withering glare at the boy, who ignored it completely. “Hey, don’t worry about them, dude. David Karofsky and the rest of his Bully Brigade are just a bunch of assholes with twenty brain cells between them,” a mohawked boy said.

“I figured,” Rachel eyed the two boys who were now having a belching contest. She scowled and took the empty seat next to the handsome mohawked boy. “I’m Rachel. Rachel Berry.”

“Noah Puckerman, but everybody calls me Puck if they know what’s good for them.” Puck winked at her and flexed his arms, showing off well-built muscles. 

“Nice to meet you, Noah,” Rachel giggled, daring him to respond. Puck merely looked menacingly at her for a split second before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

“Fine, but only you can call me that.” Puck returned her smile and looked at her tie. “Also a battler, huh? I am too, but I lost my tie and can’t get a new one until next week.”  
Rachel fingered absently at her tie, “I thought everyone had to wear theirs at all times?” The last thing she wanted to do was stick out like a sore thumb on her first day. For once, she was content with being the new student no one really talked to. 

Puck nodded but added in a conspiratorial whisper, “Yeah, but when you’re the son of a famous Trainer, not many people care what you do. My dad is Bruno, one of the Elite Four over in Kanto. He sent me over here to finish my schooling and take his place one day.”

The diva was awestruck. It was only her first day here and she had already met a Hall of Famer, a Champion Coordinator and the son of an Elite Four member! “That sounds fun,” she said. 

“If you dig sitting around a lot waiting for challengers to appear,” Puck said. “Truth be told it’s not really my thing, but I still have a few years before deciding. Might as well live them up while I have them.”

“Come on Puckerman,” David Karofsky called across the room. “How would your father take the news if he heard you didn’t want to be an Elite Four member like himself?” 

“You better not tell him, shit-for-brains!” Puck shouted back, and made to walk over to the bully to show him just how good he was when he felt a warm hand on his arm. Rachel shook her head, and Puck calmed down.

“Aw, the fierce Puckerman already has a girl to keep him in line,” Karofsky sneered and his goonies laughed. “Which reminds me, short stack, have you completed the Academy Initiation challenge yet?”

Puck’s eyes widened and he lunged at the other boy, who jerked back just in time to avoid being hit. “Don’t you dare think of asking her to do what I know you’re about to ask!”

“What is it Karofsky?” Rachel replied coolly, standing up and walking over to the him. She was not about to let her newfound friend risk detention for starting a fight. “I’ll do it.”

The other boy sneered, “Every new person has to break into the kennels by the security office and grab one of the Mightyena’s tennis balls. Bring the ball back here and then we’ll see what you’re made of. You have ten minutes.”

Rachel nodded and turned away from Karofsky, giving a thumbs-up to Puck, who looked deeply concerned and walking out the door. The security office was only a hundred feet from the building she was currently in, so she ran outside to complete the dare. Nine minutes.

She stood outside the door to the security offices, weighing the pros and cons of what she was about to do. Mightyena were terribly territorial on a good day, which is why they made such good guard Pokémon. In fact, a large Beware of Guard Pokémon sign hung where even the stupidest person in the world could see the warning. Seven minutes.  
Inhaling deeply, Rachel took a step back and then ran full-tilt towards the locked gate, vaulting over the fencing. She landed on the other side with a thump, and swore under her breath. The fence was higher than she had thought. Six minutes.

A low growl made Rachel’s hair stand on end, as the biggest Mightyena she had ever seen woke up, and started padding towards her. She closed her eyes and prepared to be attacked. Five minutes.

But the large wolf Pokémon didn’t attack her. Instead, it merely wagged its tail and gave a happy bark. The Mightyena gently licked Rachel’s cheek and pushed its huge furry head under her chin, begging for attention. Four minutes.

“What? Why aren’t you…? Never mind. Listen Mightyena, I have a favor to ask of you. If I can borrow one of your toys for the day, I promise I’ll come back tonight to play with you. Please? I need to prove myself here and this was the only way.” Three minutes.

The Mightyena whined, then turned tail to walk back into its kennel, returning seconds later with a ragged saliva-covered tennis ball. Rachel let out the breath she had unconsciously been holding and thanked her new friend before climbing back up the fence and coming back the way she had come. Two minutes.

She raced up to her classroom, tennis ball in hand, and burst through the door just as time ran out. Everyone’s eyes turned to her as she triumphantly held out the toy so everyone could see. “Next time try something a little harder,” she called to Karofsky, throwing the spit-soaked ball at the boy and hitting him right in the face.

Puck looked seriously impressed, as he bowed his head in recognition of her deed. “I think you and I are going to get along very well, Rachel.”

XXX

“So here’s how things basically work around here,” Puck said, carrying Rachel’s luggage for her as they made their way back to the dorms after class. “Each dorm is home to the students who are studying a major track. Red are the Battlers, Blue are the Coordinators, and Green are the Breeders.” 

“I figured as much,” Rachel replied, “You know I can carry my own bags.” But Puck waved her off with a smile. 

“Here’s what they didn’t tell you. There’s a competition coming up a few days, and that’s when things really get nasty here. Dorm 1, which is the one we live in, has Groudon as its mascot. We’re experts at the Pokémon side of things here, including battling. The Coordinators, also known as Team Kyogre, take pride in their creative energy, and that gives them a real advantage in things that aren’t strictly Pokémon related.”

Rachel pulled out a notebook from her backpack and began writing down everything Puck said. “And third?”

Puck frowned, “Third are the breeders, Team Rayquaza. No one ever really expects much from them, but they’re really clever and sneaky. Last year, they almost won the competition because they cheated. But we figured it out and got them disqualified.”

“Sounds like they have a score to settle with you guys then,” Rachel jotted that down in her notebook and Puck wondered if this was what the short brunette was like all the time.   
“Damn straight,” Puck puffed out his chest as the two of them approached Dorm 1. “Well, here we are. Need me to walk you to your room?”

Rachel shook her head, “No, but thank you Noah. I didn’t think I’d make a friend here at the Academy so soon.” Gathering her things, walked inside and found her room after asking around. She pushed open the door and gasped. 

Someone had already moved their things in, but even so, the room was beautiful and so spacious. One of the desks in the study area was already filled with pencils, pens and other supplies, so Rachel dumped her things on the other desk. She took a moment to wander around her new room, and tried to get a feel for what her new roommate would be like. “She likes photography,” she said out loud, peering at a large photo of a Charizard in flight.

Rachel spotted photos of a Zebstrika, a Glaceon and a beautiful picture of the Academy at sunset, and decided that she liked her roommate at first glance. She bustled into the bathroom that she would share with her roommate and placed her things on the shelf next to the other girl’s. “Mmm, nice shampoo,” she murmured, gazing at the row of beauty products. There was a fair bit of variety in her roommate’s things, but Rachel noticed that she didn’t overdo it with the makeup and hair products. 

“I think we’ll get along well,” Rachel decided, climbing the spiral staircase to the second floor and unpacking the rest of her things. 

XXX

Quinn was on her way back to her room that evening when her cell phone vibrated and she reluctantly answered it after looking at the caller I.D. Diantha. 

“Hello?”

“Quinn, where are you? We were supposed to meet an hour ago about your photoshoot. Did you forget that it’s happening tomorrow?”

Quinn winced; of course she remembered. How could she forget? “Yeah, I remember, time just got away from me, I guess.”

She heard an irritated sigh coming from the Kalos Champion. “Well, you do have a full team ready for tomorrow, right?” Quinn didn’t answer. After what happened to Dante, she just couldn’t bring herself to replace her beloved team member. Her belt still only held five Pokémon after all this time. “Quinn? Quinn? Are you there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Look, I’ll see you at the shoot tomorrow, Diantha.” She pressed the ‘end call’ button before her mentor could respond and shoved the phone back in her pocker. However, Quinn only got a few minutes reprieve before her pocket began buzzing. 

“What?” she snapped, instantly regretting it. 

Russell Fabray scolded her on the other line and she quickly apologized, citing a long day as her excuse for her behavior. “I’ll forgive this bad attitude of yours only because you’ve had a very long day. Quinnie, we need to talk about tomorrow.”

“Oh, so now all of a sudden you care about me? It only took you what, seventeen years and a famous daughter to realize that you were a father?” Quinn spat, not caring anymore if people were watching her. 

“Don’t you dare speak to me in that tone, young lady,” Russell said calmly. “I only called to tell you that I’m flying out tonight so I can be there at your shoot tomorrow. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish making my travel arrangements. Don’t disappoint me, Lucy Quinn Fabray.” He abruptly hung up, leaving a stunned Quinn in his wake.

How dare he speak to me like that? Quinn thought, scanning her I.D. card in front of her dormitory. She waited until the little light flashed green before tugging open the door and making a beeline for her room. Her head hurt now, and she needed to think. 

Jostling the door, she realized that it was locked. “Huh, I could’ve sworn that I left this unlocked when I went to dinner earlier.” Brushing aside her thoughts, she unlocked the door with her key, and collided with someone for the second time today.  
XXX

Rachel knew who had run into her a split second after she was sent falling to the floor. She was hoping to see Quinn again today, but she didn’t think that out of all the students at the Academy, she would’ve gotten Quinn as a roommate. “Quinn? You’re my roommate?”

The blonde Champion’s eyes narrowed and her cheeks colored. “What the hell are you doing in my room, Berry?” she yelled.

“Your room? I live here too, you know,” Rachel stomped her foot and looked Quinn right in the eyes. 

“Not anymore,” Quinn fumed, walking up to the loft and tossing Rachel’s suitcase over the railing. It landed with a thump and was soon followed by a rain of clothes as the irate blonde tossed everything that wasn’t hers over the side. “Get out. I don’t have a roommate.” 

“But I—”

“Get OUT!” the blonde screamed, and scared for her safety, Rachel picked up her things and slowly backed out of the room, hearing the door slam shut behind her, the lock clicking into place. People were staring at her now, so with the remainder of her dignity, she turned on her heels and ran. 

It was a very chilly night, and without a place to stay, Rachel didn’t know what to do. The kennels, Rachel thought suddenly, as she blindly ran across campus, tears obscuring her vision Reaching the Mightyena kennels, Rachel tossed her belongings over the fence and climbed over, immediately getting assaulted by the Mightyena she had met earlier along with three of its friends. 

She sniffled, and the wolf Pokémon cautiously took a step forward to lick the tears off of the diva’s face. “I’m sorry Mightyena, but I didn’t know where else to go. I brought your ball back like I promised.” 

The temperature dropped even further and Rachel shivered. Her friend yipped softly and tugged on her jacket with sharp teeth, leading her to its doghouse. “Where will you stay then?” she said.

Mightyena nudged her towards its house, and she climbed in. It was a lot smaller than her room, and covered in Pokémon fur, but it was still warmer inside then it was outside. The giant wolf Pokémon followed her in and curled up next to her, wrapping its body around her own and heaving a sign. “Thank you, Mightyena,” Rachel croaked, snuggling deeper into the Pokémon’s fur. 

She had almost fallen asleep when a sharp growl woke her up. Mightyena stirred and much to her dismay, got up to investigate a strange sound. Rachel recognized the sound of a lock being picked, and hoped that it wasn’t Quinn. She breathed a sigh of relief however when she saw the intruder had jet-black hair, not blonde. 

“Who’s there?” she called, and the figure jumped in surprise, cursing in Spanish. 

“Holy shit! Warn a girl next time, fuck!” a Latina girl knelt in front of the doghouse to peer inside. “Hey, aren’t you the transfer student? Rachel something-or-other.”

“Berry. R-r-rachel Berry. You’re Santana Lopez, aren’t you?” Rachel stammered, the cold sending a chill down her spine. 

Santana nodded, her eyebrows knitting with concern. “Berry, it’s freezing out here. Why aren’t you in your room? Did you lose your I.D.?”

“No, Quinn Fabray kicked me out of our room,” Rachel admitted, blowing into her cupped hands to try and keep them warm. 

“Huh. So you’re the person I heard Blondie screaming about earlier.” Santana slipped off her own jacket and handed it to Rachel and coaxing her out of the doghouse. “Come on, let’s get you inside before you get sick. I’ll have a serious talk with Fabray and make sure you have a place to stay.” 

Rachel nodded and crawled out on her hands and knees, teeth chattering. Santana quickly wrapped an arm around the diva’s waist to share some body heat with her, and picked up her things, leading her back towards Dorm 1.

XXX

"Forget it, there's no way in hell I'm sharing a room with the dwarf!" Quinn seethed, her hand going instinctively to her belt, wishing that she could call out her Glaceon and settle things with a battle. But her Pokémon were already in their overnight healer, and she didn’t want to disturb them.

Rachel paled at the sight of the angry blonde and slowly backed away, clutching her bags. True, she may have idolized the Hall of Famer , but if this was what she was like in real life, she'd rather share a room with an angry Granbull. Santana Lopez kept a tight grip on the diva though, and stopped her from running away.

“Quinn, you have no right to kick out your roommate, especially when it’s like fifteen degrees outside!” Santana responded angrily. “She could have gotten hypothermia out there!”  
Quinn shot a dangerous glance at Rachel, who bowed her head, whispering, “I didn’t tattletale, I swear.”

"Deal with it, Q. You can't just go around kicking people out of their rooms for no reason," Santana shot back, grabbing one of Rachel's suitcases and tossing it up on the second floor of the dorm. It landed on the bed with a satisfying thump. "She stays. End of discussion."

Growling under her breath, Quinn gave Rachel a withering glance and retreated back to her bed. "You better not keep me up at night, Manhands."

Santana stayed in the room until Rachel had taken a hot shower and gotten into her pajamas, leaving only when the brunette assured her that she would be okay. The Latina left reluctantly, flipping Quinn off as she left.

Despite her growing distaste for the girl, Rachel couldn't help but smile as she climbed up the tight spiral staircase to the second bedroom. It was only her first day here, and she had already made a few friends. Granted, she had also made an enemy of Quinn Fabray, but she couldn’t win them all. Placing her Pokéballs lovingly in their overnight holders, she unpacked her things as quietly as she could, still trying to warm up. That was a bracing first day, she thought, curling up into a ball with her stuffed Suicune. I can’t imagine what tomorrow will bring! 

XXX

“Are you okay, your lips look a little blue,” Puck asked the next morning as he and Rachel walked to Battlefield 1 for their class. 

“I’m fine, Noah,” Rachel replied, assuring him that the slight blue tint to her lips was from the grape juice she had drunk this morning with breakfast. “I heard we were going to be tag battling today, do you want to be my partner?” 

Puck nodded and produced his team with a flourish. “I’ve got a Haxorus, Beartic, Machamp, Luxray, Nidoking and Marowak. Who do you have?”

Rachel said nothing, but sent out three of her Pokémon. Puck’s jaw dropped. Rachel had none of the Pokémon he expected her to have. Standing behind her and sending a rather menacing aura towards him were a Tyranitar, Typhlosion and Garchomp. “Damn, Berry, who knew you were such a badass,” he whistled. 

“I’m a good battler Puck, not a ‘badass’,” she reprimanded him, sending out the rest of her team. Her other Pokémon looked much friendlier. A gorgeous Sylveon hopped into Rachel’s arms while a Togekiss flew up to sit on the Tyranitar’s head. Rachel’s last Pokémon was a tiny Growlithe, obviously the baby of the team. “I can battle with any of them except the Growlithe. I’m still training him.”

“How’s about I go with my Marowak for this battle and you go with T-Tar? Yours has the Sand Stream ability, right?” Rachel nodded and returned the rest of her team.

“Good idea, Puck, your Marowak is immune to Sandstorm damage and probably has Lightningrod, right?” It was the mohawked teenager’s turn to nod, impressed once again by the knowledge of his new friend. “It’s settled then.”

Puck volunteered the two of them to go first, against a boy named Finn Hudson and a girl named Tina Cohen-Chang. “Tina likes scary Pokémon,” Puck whispered as the teacher drew boundary lines on the battlefield and explained the rules. “Finn just has a grab bag of Pokémon, so I can’t tell you much about them, but together they’re a pretty dangerous pair.” 

“Go! Crobat!” Tina called, sending out a purple Pokémon with four wings and a permanent scowl on its face.

“Tyrantrum, you’re up!” Finn followed his partner’s lead. The giant dinosaur Pokémon growled loudly and waved its disproportionately small arms. 

“It’s now or never, Rach,” Puck said, sending out his Marowak. He looked back at Rachel and she smiled.

“Let’s do this, Tyranitar!” 

XXX

“Quinn, you’re late,” Diantha snapped as her charge walked into the gymnasium, looking worn out and angry. “Do you have your team?” Santana, Brittany and Artie were already up there, having finished their portion of the promotional shoot. Russell Fabray sat in the bleachers watching his daughter intently. 

Quinn didn’t respond, and shuffled past her mentor, changing her expression to one of happy interest in a heartbeat. She flounced in front of the cameras next to Santana and gave the Latina a tight hug, smiling widely at the camera. The raven-haired girl was still angry at her, but in front of the cameras, and basically the entire region, they had to play up their relationship as best friends. 

Everything was going well until the director called for everyone’s Pokémon to come out and join in. Santana, Artie and Brittany called out their respective teams and showed them off to the cameras while Quinn stood off to the side, dreading what was about to come next. She couldn’t go on, not without him.

“Quinn! It is your turn,” the director said, beckoning her close with a wave of his hand. But instead of listening to him, Quinn gave Diantha an apologetic look and fled the room.   
I can’t face the whole world again, not without Dante by my side.

XXX

“We’re doing it, Rachel, we’re winning,” Puck cheered as his Marowak cleanly dodged Crobat’s Air Cutter. Their strategy was working very well so far. Tyranitar’s Sand Stream activated and while Crobat was the only one hindered by the blowing sand, it gave their side a huge advantage. 

On the other side of the field, Finn Hudson was getting more and more frustrated. Every time his Tyrantrum would try and take out the Marowak with an Ice Fang, Rachel’s Tyranitar drove it back with a well-placed Brick Break. Puck and the new girl were working together with a tight synchronicity, stalling both him and Tina and slowly wearing their Pokémon out. 

“Finn, don’t you dare do what I think you’re about to do,” Tina warned her friend. They had been partners long enough to know that when Finn got mad, other people paid for it. “Hudson! Snap out of it!” 

But Finn didn’t listen. “Tyrantrum, finish them off with Thrash!” 

Everything slowed down as the Tyrantrum looked once at its Trainer and nodded, it’s eyes turning bright red and zeroing in on Rachel’s Pokémon. Puck’s eyes widened and he ordered his Marowak to rush to Tyranitar and use Protect. Bad things happened whenever Finn got upset. 

Marowak was faster than the rampaging Pokémon and jumped in front of the attack, tossing the bone it carried on the field and holding out its hands to summon the protective shield. It sprang into existence just as the Tyrantrum hit, repelling the hit but throwing the enraged Pokémon to the left and towards Rachel and Puck.

Puck dived out of the way, dragging Rachel by the arm, but he was a split second too late. He managed to save Rachel from getting hit by a six-hundred pound dinosaur, but the Tyrantrum’s tail came up at the end and smacked Rachel in the side, sending the diva flying backwards a dozen feet, where she lay motionless. 

“Rachel!”


	2. Reputation (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, ignore the fact that I've been updating this elsewhere and forgetting to post to AO3. Anyway, enjoy the next few chapters. My bad.

_Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and from the moment I was old enough to receive my first starter Pokémon, I knew that I work hard to become the best Trainer in Johto. Fast forward seven years, to my second year in Trainer School and I realized that my dream would be a little harder to achieve than I originally thought. I watched on T.V. as Trainers such as Santana Lopez from Hoenn and Quinn Fabray from Kalos defeated their champions and entered the Hall of Fame, to forever be immortalized._

_So I figured if I wanted to be the best then I needed to go to school with the some things are easier said than done. Welcome to the Kalos Academy and to my story._

**Episode 2: Reputation (1/2)**

All Quinn Fabray wanted to do right now was go back to her dorm room and go to sleep. Anything to end this hellish day. But she knew from the moment that she was crowned Champion that not a single day would pass without her being judged. Even just this single moment of her sitting by herself on a bench outside the gym would soon be interrupted.

"Quinn, can I talk to you for a minute?" There it was. Quinn sighed deeply and turned her head to face her mentor. Diantha looked worried, and  _God_  was she sick of people looking at her like that.

"What?" Quinn snapped, immediately regretting it. She pinched the bridge of her nose and apologized to the Champion. "I'm sorry, I just really don't want to talk right now."

Diantha shook her head vehemently, "But that's just it, Quinn. We  _need_  to have a serious talk soon about Dante and your career. Look, I know these last few months have been really hard on you, really, I understand. You're not the only person to have lost a partner before."

The Champion placed her hand gently on Quinn's shoulder, and for once the blonde was too emotionally exhausted to move. "Are things ever going to get better?"

"Time heals all wounds, Quinn. Remember that. It just might take some of those wounds longer to heal. I'll tell you what, I'll go back in there and postpone the rest of the shoot until later, okay? Take some time off. You're back in school for the time being, focus on that instead of being a Champion. Call me if you need anything." Diantha got up and walked back inside, leaving Quinn to her thoughts.

_I really thought I was ready to do this. What the hell am I going to do now?_

Almost as if on cue, her cell phone rang. Pulling the phone from her back pocket, she blanched upon reading the caller I.D. There was no avoiding this call. "Daddy?"

On the other end of the line Russell Fabray huffed with impatience. "Young lady, we need to talk right now. Quinn, you will explain to me right now why Diantha is here in the gym saying that the shoot is being postponed."

Quinn cringed, completely forgetting that her father had been invited to watch and critique the photo shoot. After all, it was his company who sponsored the entire thing. "Daddy, I'm so sorry, I just can't do this right now. Please, can we talk later?"

"What aren't you telling me, Quinn?" came two identical voices as Quinn dropped her phone and faced her father.

"Nothing." She tried to plaster her HBIC look on her face, but failed miserably on seeing the anger radiating off her father in waves. "I wasn't feeling well and I asked her to postpone it on my behalf. "

Well, at least that was partly true.

"Lucy Quinn Fabray, my company has spent a lot of money financing your career and rise to fame. If I say you're to participate in a promotional shoot, you  _will,_ no matter if you're ill or not!" he yelled.

Quinn scoffed, "Please, Daddy, you only jumped on my bandwagon once it became obvious that I was going places. I believe it took you until after I beat Wulfric to even acknowledge me as a Trainer."

Russell stood shell-shocked for a moment before slapping his daughter across the face.

Quinn barely registered the pain as he slapped her, leaving an angry red welt on her cheek. Her eyes filled with tears but to her credit, did not let them fall. Instead, the blonde just stared at her father with cold hazel eyes and called out Garm, her Aegislash, who placed itself between girl and father, and lunged menacingly at Russell Fabray.

Her father backed away, knowing when he was outnumbered, especially by one of her most faithful Pokémon. "Don't let it happen again," he growled, retreating to the parking lot. "Or the next time I won't be as understanding."

As he disappeared, Quinn sank down on the bench, her whole body shaking with a combination of rage and fear. Despite her deteriorating relationship with her father, he was right about one thing. He  _did_ control her and her career. She was only useful to her sponsors as long as she continued to do well, and if she outlived her usefulness she would be stuck in a precarious position.

Garm hovered next to his Trainer, and gently headbutted Quinn, earning a small smile in return. "Thanks Garm."

Their silence was soon broken again by a commotion over by the battlefields. A minute later, Quinn saw Puck and Finn rush by her, followed closely by a Marowak and an unfamiliar Tyranitar. Her heart dropped when she saw that Puck was carrying somebody in his arms, looking unnaturally worried.

She managed to catch a glimpse of the injured student, and she frowned. Rachel Berry. The two boys ran in the direction of the infirmary, and perhaps against her better judgement, she stood up to follow them.  _There's something about that Berry girl that I can't seem to get out of my head._

XXX

"Rachel? Rachel? Come on, dude wake up!" Rachel groaned in pain and opened her eyes. Finn's mammoth frame leaned over her as he looked at her with concern. "Rachel? Oh thank God, you're awake."

"What happened?" Rachel wheezed, slowly levering herself into an upright position. Her left side was killing her, almost as if a small car had run into her at full tilt. Suddenly the memories all came rushing back. The tag battle, Finn's Tyrantrum going crazy. Finn. "Finn! What did you do?"

Puck shoved Finn out of the way and hugged Rachel tightly, letting up only when the tiny brunette winced in pain. "Sorry," he apologized quickly. "I was worried. Finn's Tyrantrum looked like it hit you pretty hard."

"I'm fine Noah," Rachel told the older boy, laying one hand on his shoulder reassuringly and steadfastly ignoring the ache in her side. "I may be in need of some pain medication for the next few days, but believe me as a Trainer, I've had worse."

"Well I definitely concur with that Miss Berry," the school nurse said as she walked in, carrying a thick patient file to Rachel's bedside. "I take it you've had quite the adventure over the years. I count no less than a dozen remodeled fractures, and judging by the sheer size of the file I've received, you're no stranger to pain."

Puck looked at Rachel with newfound respect, "Damn, what did you do?"

"I take a more hands-on approach to training my Pokémon. Back in Johto I would regularly travel to Mount Silver and hike with my Garchomp and Tyranitar to train them."

The nurse tutted in disapproval, and gently pushed Puck out of the way so she could take Rachel's vitals. "Usually I'd recommend not doing things of that nature anymore, but I doubt you'd listen to me at this point."

Rachel smiled, "You're absolutely right, ma'am. I take my relationship with my team very seriously."

"This time you were lucky Miss Berry. My tests aren't showing anything abnormal aside from some swelling on your torso, you probably just passed out from the shock of getting hit. If you must insist with your training methods, I highly recommend adding some vitamin supplements to your diet to combat any future injuries." The nurse placed two pill bottles on the bedside next to Rachel.

"What are those for?" Puck asked.

"Just because your x-ray didn't turn up anything of concern doesn't mean I'm not concerned. These are low-grade pain medications, to help with the soreness you're soon to feel thanks to getting thrown around by a Tyrantrum."

Finn bit his lower lip sheepishly, "Have I mentioned how super sorry I am, Rach?"

The diva smiled and reached out to Finn, taking his gargantuan hand in her tiny one. "I've told you already Finn, I'll be fine. I appreciate your concern for me."

The Academy's nurse rounded on Finn and shook her finger at him, "As for you Mr. Hudson, the head of Student Affairs has asked that you meet her in the office to discuss disciplinary measures for your thoughtless actions."

Finn nodded solemnly and turned to walk away, pausing for a moment to look at Rachel over his shoulder. "Of course. I'll be going then. Feel better Rachel!"

"Mr. Puckerman, if you'll escort Rachel back to her dorm room, I'd be appreciative." Back on the nurse's desk, a cell phone beeped cheerily and she picked it up, reading the message. " Now if you'll excuse me, I've just gotten word that a student in the breeding program got on the wrong side of a mother Druddigon and has sustained some minor burns. Have a good day you two."

She hurried out to greet the injured, leaving Rachel and Puck alone in the room. "Ready to go Rachel?"

"Absolutely. You don't have to walk me back to my room if you don't want to Noah, I can manage on my own."

"No offense small fry, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you out of my sight for the rest of the day. I didn't carry you all the way across campus just to see you get hurt again." Puck offered his hand and Rachel took it gratefully. "Shall we, oh grand ruler?"

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "We shall, my faithful knight."

XXX

Quinn witnessed the entire scene unfold from the curtained area to the left of Rachel's bed. Originally she had berated herself for even bothering to check on the diva, after all, it wasn't as if they were friends or anything.

_She's definitely a spitfire, that's for sure._ The Champion was awed at Rachel's apparent resilience and her dedication to training. Maybe she shouldn't have been so hasty with kicking Rachel out of the room. Hell, even Santana had yelled at her last night with a fury usually only reserved for those who made fun of Brittany. There was something special about Rachel Berry that both frustrated her and made her whole body tingle with an excitement she hadn't felt for a long time.

_I'll let her stay…for now._

True to her word, when Quinn finally returned to her room after another exhausting day, she didn't even bother to look up at the balcony to see if Rachel was there. Dropping her backpack next to her desk and briefly touching the picture of Dante that was taped to the wall, she sat down to finish her homework before bed. Thirty minutes and twenty-five increasingly difficult strategy questions later, she tossed her pencil down and shuffled to their shared bathroom to put on her pajamas, finally collapsing into bed and turning off the lights.

Quinn's dreams that night made her toss and turn in her bed. She had been having the same nightmare at least twice a week ever since Dante died.

_Rain was falling in torrents as Quinn silently exited the car, a boquet of flowers in one hand and a worn-out medal in the other. To think, twenty-four hours ago, she was hugging her beloved Pokémon and watching him recover from his illness, a toothy smile on his face. Now she would never see the twinkle in his eyes that was reserved only for her._

_She had met Dante as a Charmander and through long hours of training and battling, had evolved him into a powerful Charizard. They had been through hell and high water together and now he was gone. But Quinn refused to cry. Dante wouldn't want his Trainer to cry today. He'd want her to celebrate his short, but well-lived life. Together they had set out to do the impossible and had succeeded. Dante had died knowing that they had won._

_Despite her resolve, tears slowly began rolling down Quinn's cheeks as she approached a silver plaque affixed to a stone tablet. Her friends and fellow Champions Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce stood off to one side, holding each other tightly and watching as their friend placed the flowers next to Dante's plaque and hung the rain-soaked Champion's medal from a hook._

_They had made one last journey together as a team, from Kalos to Kanto. From Vaniville town to Lavender Town. Quinn let out her five remaining Pokémon and sent everyone away, save for Brittany and Santana. The tears flowing freely now, she rested a shaking hand on Dante's grave and screamed. Her Pokémon huddled next to her, and provided the slightest bit of comfort as they watched their Trainer fall apart._

But tonight, something different entered her dream, something not quite so sad. A melodic voice, quiet at first, began eating away at the bad dream, filling Quinn with a different kind of emotion. She felt happiness and for the briefest of moments, joy as the rain stopped and the barest hint of light peeked out from behind Lavender Tower. She sighed and sank into dreamless slumber, all traces of her nightmare gone, at least for the rest of the night.

Quinn woke up the next morning feeling more rested than she ever had before. Blinking blearily, she rolled over on her side to check the time, and froze when she felt an unfamiliar pressure stopping her from moving further.

"Rachel?"

XXX

The diva honestly didn't know what woke her up, but all that mattered was that her ribs were killing her and the soft cries that echoed throughout the room were not hers.

Tiptoeing down the spiral staircase as quietly as she could, she slipped into the bathroom to pour herself a glass of water and to take another pain pill. Rachel lifted up her top and winced when the material dragged over the rapidly forming bruise on her side.  _Damn, Finn's Tyrantrum is strong._

She'd had worse though, so she sighed deeply and made to return to her bed, but stopped in her tracks when she heard another soft cry. Even though a huge part of her brain was screaming at her not to take another step, she couldn't help herself and ended up standing next to Quinn and staring as the blonde tossed and turned in the grip of what was obviously a bad dream.

"Quinn?" she whispered, gently shaking the Champion's shoulder. Quinn didn't wake, and even seemed to get more agitated by the slight contact. For a moment she debated raiding the blonde's overnight healer to release one of her Pokémon, but thought better of it once she realized that her Pokémon probably wouldn't take lightly to a stranger calling them out.

So instead she just did what she could do, sitting down next to Quinn's bed and taking the Champion's hand in her own.

_Made a wrong turn once or twice_

_Dug my way out, blood and fire_

_Bad decisions, that's alright_

_Welcome to my silly life_

_Mistreated, misplaced misunderstood_

_Miss "No Way it's all good"_

_It didn't slow me down_

_Mistaken, always second guessing_

_Underestimated, look I'm still around_

_Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel_

_Like you're less than, less than perfect_

_Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel_

_Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me_

XXX

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked the diva, still dumbstruck as she looked at their intertwined fingers.

"I am so sorry," Rachel blustered, quickly disengaging and shooting Quinn an apologetic look. "I must have passed out after taking a pain pill."

Arching an eyebrow, Quinn quickly gauged the distance from the bathroom to her bed. "So you took your medication, somehow walked over here and took my hand before passing out?"

Sheepishly running a hand through her hair, Rachel nodded, biting her bottom lip. "Maybe…"

Suddenly, everything clicked in Quinn's head. "And you singing to me, was that before or after the passing out?"

Rachel's eyes widened, and she tried to recover. "Ha, you heard that, huh?"

They sat in a semi-uncomfortable silence until the diva's alarm clock went off, surprising them both. Rachel stood up with a barely suppressed groan of pain to turn the offending item off, but before she could reach the stairs, Quinn got out of bed and beat her to it.

"Thanks, I kind of took a beating yesterday in class."

"I heard about it, are you okay? Did you really get hit by a Tyrantrum?"

Lifting up her shirt to show Quinn the bruise, she smiled bravely. "I've had worse."

"So…uh, I should probably get ready for school now. I have an early-morning breeding class." Taking her leave, Quinn shut herself in the bathroom and braced herself on the sink. Her heart was hammering and she didn't know why. Putting any thoughts of Rachel to the back of her brain, she settled into HBIC mode.

Rachel knocked on the door, "Quinn, are you, uh, gonna be much longer? I'd like to take a shower."

"No, I'm done. And Berry?" Quinn could just picture the grimace on the diva's face as she said the diva's last name. She opened the door just enough to stick her head out. "Next time you feel like being stalker-ish, let me know so I can contact the proper authorities."

She breezed out of the room, hoping that Rachel didn't see the slight smile on her face.

XXX

Diantha rolled into her office at ten o'clock on the dot, and stopped when she saw someone sitting in her office. She checked her phone to make sure she didn't have an appointment.

"Hi, can I help you—" she asked, freezing mid-sentence. "Steven? What are you doing here?"

The Hoenn Champion shot her a winning smile and stood up to embrace her. "I was in the region checking in on Santana and just decided to stop by. I'm sorry, did you have an appointment?"

Diantha shook her head, "I'm free for a few hours. It's just such a surprise to see you, what about the challengers in your region?"

"Ever since Santana beat me, no one's really been brave enough to challenge the Elite Four. I think the blogs are calling it the 'Fear of Snixx'."

"Ah, I get it. So what are you going to do with your free time?"

"I thought I'd see to my current Champion, head over to Kiloude City to check out the Battle Maison, and just relax for a bit. I'd also like to talk to you about something."

Diantha recognized the Hoenn Champion's serious voice and sat down. "Is it about Quinn?"

"Look, I completely understand wanting to get your Champion seen by the rest of the world, but when we heard about Dante, I wondered if introducing her back into the world of battling is good for her."

She sighed, "Believe me, I've been asking myself the same question ever since I got the phone call. I've tried to keep her mind off of Dante by throwing her back into work, but I can see that it's not really helping. Tell me Steven, how did you approach this with Santana? I haven't had a Champion to work with for ages."

"I listen to them. Quinn might not be much for talking right now, but keep her going. Like it or not, she listens to you, and sometimes I envy the relationship you two have. When Santana gets mad she keeps ranting about Lima Heights Adjacent, whatever that is."

They laughed, and Diantha smiled at Steven. "Thank you for the advice, my friend. How about we go for coffee, my treat?"

"Count me in. You know I've heard about the coffee here in the Kalos Region…"

XXX

"Alright, listen up, bitches, the dorm competition is coming up soon," Santana said, addressing the heads of the other two dorms, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson. "And we need to set the terms for this semester's winner."

Kurt Hummel ignored her entirely and continued filing his nails. Kurt was the head of the Coordinator dorm, and a very talented performer. Not many people had the courage to challenge him in the contest arena ever since he blew through the Unova circuit undefeated. As such, he took winning very seriously. "And what makes you think you're going to win again this semester, Satan?"

"Kurt," Blaine Anderson chided, and shot his boyfriend a glare. "Our dorms both lost fair and square last time, let's not bring back old memories." Blaine led the Breeders to new heights as the newly appointed head of the dorm, introducing new breeding techniques and training methods that he learned while on his journey throughout the Kalos Region.

"Bad memories, Blaine? Santana threw a  _pie_  in my face," he hissed, unconsciously patting his hair.

"Those were the terms, Lady Hummel," Santana sighed, chuckling at the memory. "Losers get shanked with pie. Besides, at least I remembered to toss your favorite flavor in your face."

Kurt put his nail file down and lunged for Santana, who jumped back quickly, smile still on her face. "I can never eat lemon merangue pie again thanks to you!"

"Would the two of you stop it?" Blaine shouted, grabbing his boyfriend around the waist and hauling him backwards. "Save the animosity for the competition, okay? We're only here to discuss terms."

"Fine," Kurt huffed, "What are this year's boons and booby prizes?"

Santana cleared her throat and passed two pieces of paper to her rival captains, "I put together a list of most wanted resources that our dorm could use."

"Winner gets exclusive access to the Main Dining Hall?" Blaine's eyes widened. "Where will the rest of us eat?"

Kurt blanched. "NO! Absolutely not, Santana!"

"Oh yes, Fruit Loop, losers have to eat at Sandy's food truck." Santana resisted the urge to cackle maniacally.

Sandy's food truck was the alternate source of food for students who had classes near the outskirts of campus, and was manned by the most foul-mouthed man you would ever meet. Even Santana Lopez herself bowed down to him.

"You wouldn't understand Blaine, you transferred here last semester after the punishment ended," Kurt explained, pulling out his cell phone and flipping through his photo gallery. "That's Sandy Ryerson, and he is a despicable human being. Last year, he got caught trying to put Raid in the nacho cheese dispenser and nearly got fired."

Blaine looked horror-struck, "Why didn't he get fired? Someone could've died!"

"Politics," Santana cut in. "There was no one else willing to step up and take on the admittedly massive workload he has to deal with. So he got slapped with a heavy fine and a campus guard to watch his every move, but people still gotta eat."

Kurt read through the rest of the Battler's demands, "Yeah, but Santana, last year we only had to eat there for a month, this says dining rights for the rest of the  _year!"_

"Damn straight," she replied. "What? You afraid you're gonna lose?"

Kurt looked across the table at Blaine and after a minute of intense debate, the two of them turned back to face the Latina. "We'll do it."

"Great," Santana produced three pens out of nowhere and tossed one to each of the other dorm heads. "Sign on the dotted line to officially agree, and then I'll see you two on the battlefield tomorrow."

Kurt and Blaine hastily scribbled their signatures on the paper and took photo proof of the other documents. "Just you wait, this year the Coordinators will come out on top!" Kurt yelled as Santana gathered up her things and made to leave.

"The Breeders will have our revenge this year," Blaine promised her and she casually flipped them both off over her shoulder.

"Good luck trying," Santana said. "Remember, we have Quinn Fabray on our team."

The two young men gulped.

XXX

The bell rang throughout the Academy, signaling the last period of the school day.

Rachel gently pulled her gym shirt on, mindful of her injury as she got ready for gym class. She liked that the Academy demanded that both Trainers and Pokémon work equally hard to maintain peak. The Johto Academy didn't have nearly the facilities that the Kalos Academy had, though she had compensated by jogging for at least three miles every morning.  _I appreciate the diversity in activities now._

Part of the reason she had been accepted into the Academy was thanks to her Track and Field experience. She was a natural runner, and she personally made sure to never fall behind on her practice if she could help it. Bouncing out of the women's locker room, she jogged onto the football field.

Waving hello to some of the other battlers, she began to run through her warm-ups while the rest of the class trickled in. She spotted some familiar faces and was overjoyed to see Puck shuffle onto the track, looking mildly annoyed.

"Good day, Noah!" she called to the Mohawked boy. He waved back half-heartedly, and she wondered what had gotten under his skin.

Not letting his unenthusiasm dampen her spirits, she focused instead on the day in front of her. The teacher appeared a minute later and instructed them to begin lining up for a 100-meter time trial. She was one of the first to volunteer, and fell into the inside lane, right next to Karofsky, the boy who she had chucked Mightyena's tennis ball at.

_Oh, crap._

He grinned menacingly at her, and turned back to face the track. They waited with bated breath until the instructor set off the starting gun. She surged forward, taking the early lead in front of everyone else.

Just as she was approching the finish line, with everyone right at her heels, she felt Karofsky approach a second before she realized what he was up to. He feigned a fall, and toppled into her with all of his weight, sending her flying.

She felt rather than heard as her body hit the track, thankfully on her uninjured side. Rachel was pretty sure that her ankle was sprained as well, and she just lay there in the grass for a second.

"This is for the tennis ball," she heard Karofsky whisper as he walked past. Puck ran up to her and helped her up.

"Damn, what did you do to piss off Karofsky?" he asked, slinging an arm gently around Rachel's waist and supporting her.

"It's not my fault! Yesterday I beat the odds and stole a guard Pokémon's tennis ball, and then I proceeded to throw said tennis ball in the face of the jerk who challenged me." She tilted her head, "Actually, yeah, this is my fault."

Puck frowned as he felt the diva wilt slightly in his grip. He tilted Rachel's face towards him and hissed in sympathy when he saw the gash over her right eye. Signalling the instructor, he asked for permission to escort Rachel to the nurse.

"Puck? I feel dizzy, and why are there two of you?"

"Let's go back to the nurse, short stack. She's probably making good money now that she's got you to fix up."

XXX

"Mr. Puckerman, I'm beginning to think you're blowing off class on purpose," the nurse tutted in disapproval, taking Rachel from the older boy's arms. "That or you're a seriously bad luck charm for Ms. Berry here."

Rachel collapsed on the pallet and waited patiently for the nurse to gather her supplies. "He's not a bad luck charm, I swear. I've never had the best luck in the world."

"I can see that now. Mr. Puckerman, why don't you return to class, Ms. Berry is in capable hands here." She shooed him out of the room and began to check the diva's vital signs.

"l'll see you later, Rachel!" Puck called from the doorway. "Try not to kill yourself on the way back to your room!"

She waved weakly as the nurse fussed over he condition. Satisfied that Rachel wasn't in any immediate danger, she cleaned out the gash and bade her to stay here for at least a half hour for monitoring.

Rachel was glad for the reprieve, so she tucked her feet beneath her and settled down to take a nap. The brunette was about to drift off to sleep when she heard the nurse talking to another student in hushed tones.

"Miss Fabray, can I help you with something?"

"I think something's wrong with me."


	3. Reputation (Part 2)

_Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and from the moment I was old enough to receive my first starter Pokémon, I knew that I work hard to become the best Trainer in Johto. Fast forward seven years, to my second year in Trainer School and I realized that my dream would be a little harder to achieve than I originally thought. I watched on T.V. as Trainers such as Santana Lopez from Hoenn and Quinn Fabray from Kalos defeated their champions and entered the Hall of Fame, to forever be immortalized._

_So I figured if I wanted to be the best then I needed to go to school with the some things are easier said than done. Welcome to the Kalos Academy and to my story._

**Episode 3: Reputation (Part 2)**

"Well, let's not get  _too_  hasty here, Miss Fabray. I'll be back once I get your file."

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Quinn nodded and walked over to one of the empty pallets. It had required nearly all of her self-control to step into the office, and to be honest, most of her just wanted to leave.

Quinn had always been the kind of girl to go at it alone, to never ask for help. It had taken her years of being a Trainer to come to the realization that she didn't have to be alone. She'd made friends, both human and Pokémon. People like Santana and Brittany, and it killed her to not be able to go to them.

_Whoa there, Quinn, stop over-analyzing this. You miss Dante, these feelings are normal. So why does it feel like I'm falling apart inside?_

Quinn's thoughts were interrupted as the nurse came back clutching her folder.

"Miss Fabray, you've certainly been through a lot these past few months. How have you been dealing with Dante's death?"

The Champion scoffed, "Peachy. I became Champion and then lost my best friend."

" _Quinn."_

"What do you want me to say, doc? A part of me died that day along with him, and I haven't felt the same since. Hell, I can't even make myself go through with a simple photo-shoot because I know he isn't there. I keep reliving the memory of that awful phone call, when they told me my starter was dying. And every time I think things might be getting better, I freeze and wonder perhaps things  _aren't_ meant to."

The nurse listened patiently, pausing only to scribble down a few notes. "Miss Fabray, I don't think anything's wrong with you. Losing a Pokémon is never an easy thing to experience. Considering the connection you shared with that Charizard, I can see where you're coming from."

Quinn already regretted telling the nurse that much. "What do you propose I do about it then? My father's been nagging me to get back in the game. To him I'm just a cash cow, I'm not his daughter."

Tutting in disapproval, the nurse laid down her pen. "You need to let the grieving process take place. The entire region sees you as a celebrity, the Champion of the Kalos region, and I'm starting to think that's how you see yourself. You're human, Quinn, and it's okay to feel sad. It's okay to feel angry. And it's okay to cry."

The Champion's entire body seemed to collapse inward on itself as she hung her head. Her voice broke slightly as she stood up. "Thank you. I need to think about…well, everything. I definitely needed to hear that. If you don't mind I'm…gonna head out."

As she left, feet shuffling slowly away, the nurse watched her go with concern.  _She'll eventually pull through, I can see her strength. It'll take time though, and I hope she's able to realize that._

From her pallet only a few feet away from the desk, Rachel Berry silently wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

XXX

By the time Rachel got back to her dorm room, night had fallen. With a slight limp to her step, and a backpack full of homework, she staggered inside and shut the door, dumping her things on her desk and collapsing in her chair.

"Maybe I should just tape a sign to my back that says: Caution, Walking Disaster," she grumbled.

Rachel looked over her shoulder and saw that Quinn was already asleep.  _Guess I'll have to continue my complaining tomorrow._

She thought about walking over to ask the Champion about what she had overheard in the nurse's office, but decided against it. It wasn't her place to pry, especially on a private conversation. But since Quinn was asleep…

"Quinn?" There was no response from the blonde, which she took as an invitation to continue. "Quinn, you know it's okay to be sad about your partner. You feel hollow inside, as if something's been torn out. I…I should know, I lost a partner myself, long ago. It'll get better, I swear."

She jumped back in surprise when the covers shifted and a rather upset Quinn Fabray growled at her. "Berry. Were you spying on my private conversation with the nurse earlier?"

Busted. "Uh…it's not my fault. I was in gym and then Karofsky was all blam, and then my ankle twisted and there's a gash over my eye and…yes. Yes I listened in."

Rachel could tell that it was taking all of Quinn's self-control not to leap out of bed and smack her. "You should know better than to listen in on private conversations, midget."

"Are you going to kick me out again?"

Quinn sighed heavily, looking like she was going to seriously consider the idea. "Santana would likely kill me, she seems to have taken a liking to you. So no, I won't kick you out, but can you just….get out of here for a while? I need to be alone."

_Well that's progress._ Rachel nodded, and grabbed her jacket, thankful that at least this time she had a bed to come back to. She could always rush through her homework during breakfast. As she reached for the doorknob, she turned around, "Quinn, I apologize for intruding on your privacy like that, it won't happen again."

XXX

Rachel looked up at the stars as she walked down the school's main road, past the outdoor arenas and contest stages. At least her roommate hadn't kicked her out again. She realized that spying had been wrong, but in her defense she thought the Champion was asleep.  _Oh well, the least I can do is give her some time._

Happy that she had made some progress with the prickly champion, she smiled. Small steps, Rachel, small steps.

"Rachel? What are you doing out here?" The brunette shook herself out of her thoughts about Quinn and looked over to see Puck jogging up to meet her. "Ice Bitch didn't kick you out again, did she?"

Rachel couldn't help but smile when she saw his angry expression. "No, she didn't kick me out. But I thought it would be good if I just gave her some alone time before I headed back."

Puck's features softened and he fell into step next to the diva. "Good. If she had kicked you out, I would've gone to Santana."

"I appreciate it Noah, but I left on my own accord. Quinn and I are…getting there. I never expected it to be easy."

They walked for a few moments in amicable silence, enjoying the chilly weather. "Hey, Rach, I have a question for you."

"What's on your mind?"

Puck thought for a moment about what he wanted to ask his new friend. He already knew she was a hell of a Trainer, and tough despite her short stature. Hell, she was even nice to people who didn't deserve her kindness. He just wanted to get to know her better. "What made you decide to come to the Kalos Academy? I hear the one you went to in Johto was just as good."

Rachel tilted her head, considering his question. "I guess I wanted to experience something new. The Johto Academy was amazing, no question about that. But when I first stepped foot onto the Kalos grounds, something just clicked. It felt like I needed to be here. It hasn't been easy, with Quinn and Karofsky, but it's the others I've met, like you, Santana and Brittany that have made it better."

Puck grinned, and wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulders, bringing the shorter girl in for a hug. "Good, glad I could make this place a little brighter. I haven't met many people who take me as I am, especially once they learn I'm the son of an Elite Four member. It's like they see the title and legacy I hold before they see me."

"Well all I see, Noah, is someone I'm glad to call my first friend here at the Academy." Rachel's phone buzzed and she looked at it to see a short message from Quinn. "I should head back now, maybe I'll get a bit of my work done before I head to bed. Thank you for walking with me."

"Anytime, Rach, anytime. If Quinn does give you any more trouble, don't hesitate to let me know." He watched as Rachel waved to him before heading back to her dorm. Reaching into his own jacket to check his phone, he decided to follow the tiny diva's lead and go back to his dorm.

_Ooh, I hope Mike saved me some of those nachos from dinner. I wonder if Rachel likes nachos._ Oh no. No. Bad Puckerman.

_She's short, but she's cute, and tough, and an awesome Trainer. I wonder where she met her Garchomp, it's a massive Pokémon._ Wait, we only just met. Do I really like her that much?

Puck groaned and shuffled back to his room. Great, I think I like Rachel Berry.

XXX

Rachel quietly opened the door and took off her jacket and shoes, padding softly to her loft and climbing into bed. Forget homework, she could always do it in the morning. She could hear Quinn's soft breathing from below her and smiled.

_She's kind of mean, but I can see that in her heart she's kind. She's also rather pretty, prettiest girl I think I've ever seen, and she's the Kalos Champion._ She blinked.

Oh no. No.

Rachel turned over in bed, feeling mortified. Great, I think I like Quinn Fabray.

XXX

The last thing Rachel wanted was her breakfast interrupted. She had slept well the night before, but had gotten up before Quinn so she could get her work done. Thankful that the main dining hall opened extremely early so as to accommodate those with zero period classes and clubs, she was able to grab a bite to eat while she settled down to do her work.

She had a breeding class today, which she was excited about. Though she had chosen the battling track at the Academy, all students were required to be proficient in Coordination and Breeding as well. She had just started on the last of her work when she heard someone slide into the chair next to her.

"I do hope that, whoever you are, you wouldn't mind me throwing hot coffee in your face. I'd like to get my homework done before class."

"Excuse me miss, my sources say you are Quinn Fabray's roommate. I'm Remington, reporter for the KNN, the Kalos News Network. Do you have anything to say about the rumors concerning Quinn Fabray's severe depression?"

Rachel's eyes widened as she looked up at the person across the table from her, thoroughly appalled that someone would even dare to ask those kinds of questions. The first thought that flew through her mind was that she really should have thrown her coffee at the reporter.

_But that would be a waste of perfectly good coffee._

She composed her expression so as to not give any emotion away. "I don't know who you are and quite frankly, I don't care. But you've interrupted my perfectly good morning with your drivel. Whatever rumors you may have heard concerning my roommate are best taken up with the girl herself. And I get the feeling she'll be even less accommodating than I am. Now please leave before I make you, I have class in twenty minutes."

Remington scowled, but took a step back. He knew better than to mess with an Academy kid. They may look young, but most of them had already accomplished more than someone twice their age, with incredibly strong teams.

"I…apologize, miss. Enjoy your breakfast. Here. My card, should you change your mind." Miffed that he didn't get the scoop he was looking for, he was about to give up when someone whispered something to him as he passed.

"If you want information about Quinn Fabray, you should talk to me. Make it worth my while and we'll both win."

"And who might you be, young man?"

The boy grinned. "Name's Karofsky."

XXX

Russell Fabray was busy perusing his tablet, specifically at one of the Society blogs the local news network ran, and drinking a diet soda when he saw the story.

"WHAT?!"

Throwing his tablet at the wall, he grabbed his cell phone and punched in his daughter's number. No matter how many rumors circulated about his daughter, he had to make sure they were quelled before his company's reputation got ruined. He brought Quinn Fabray to his superiors in the first place and if any of the rumors turned out to be true, then it would be his ass on the line.

XXX

"Daddy, why are you calling, I don't have class for another three hours." Quinn muttered, still half-asleep. But she bolted upright when Russell began yelling obscenities at her. Quickly glancing upward to make sure Rachel had indeed left for her morning class, she grabbed her keys and her Pokémon and walked outside. The sun had barely risen, casting a pale glow on the grounds of the Academy. Quinn thought it was beautiful, though it was immediately soured with her father pounding her with question after question. "No, I'm not circling the drain, and I certainly haven't been turning to drugs. Daddy, calm down! These are rumors, nothing more."

The Champion heard her father breathe heavily on the other line, and she knew from experience that he was about to launch into yet another one of his long-winded tirades. Not wanting to hear it, she was about to press the 'mute' button on her phone when the first sentence out of his mouth made her freeze mid-stride. "The media is buzzing about how you're one step away from committing suicide, what with your crippling depression and all."

"What?"  _No, that was impossible._ She had only told two people about her concerns, the school nurse and Rachel Berry. The nurse was under a strict confidentiality contract, but her roommate…

Quinn flashed back to earlier. She had been picking up some of the diva's leftover things off the floor, with the intention of returning them as an apology. Her roommate had gone to her breeding class, changing out of her normal outfit and putting on the uniform all Breeders were required to wear when working with Pokémon. As she was picking up a pair of Rachel's jeans, something fell out of one of the back pockets. Intrigued, she unfolded what looked like a business card and blanched upon noticing the familiar insignia on the right-hand corner.

_What? Is this what I think it is?_

Shaking her head to return to the present, Quinn decided in the heat of the moment to throw her father off her trail. "No, Daddy, I have no idea who came up with that ridiculous story. No doubt someone trying to catch their fifteen minutes of fame by riding on my coattails."

"Hmph, well we'll be launching an investigation nevertheless. The last thing both of us need is another rumor making the rounds." Quinn could hear the barely disguised frustration in her father's voice, and she finally muted her end of the call so she could sigh in relief.

For the life of her, she didn't know why she didn't just reveal her roommate's treachery.  _Because I don't want my father to get my hands on her._

Or maybe it was because there was a part of her that didn't fully believe that Rachel would do something like that to her.

XXX

"Hey everybody, and welcome to the next elective unit on breeding," Blaine Anderson smiled and set down his teaching supplies on the desk at the front of the classroom, pulling out three Pokéballs from the bag. With a flourish, he released two Gardevoir and one Ralts, who materialized in front of the class. "Now I'm sure many of you are familiar with basic breeding techniques but just in case, I'm going to review the basics."

Rachel opened her notebook and got ready to take notes. Breeding may not have been her forte, but she was still interested in it.

"I didn't sign up for a  _basic_  breeding class," one tall brown-haired boy drawled, collecting his things and making to leave. "My parents are paying good money for me to attend this school, and I already know about basic breeding."

Blaine didn't bat an eyelash, and gestured to the door, "I'm not gonna make you stay Sebastian, but leaving this class will result in an automatic fail, and correct me if I am mistaken, but your parents probably wouldn't be too happy about that, now would they?"

Rachel gaped at Blaine's bluntness.  _He seemed so sweet when Santana was ranting about him earlier…_

"No sir," the boy named Sebastian gulped visibly and returned to his seat.

"Anyways, you all know that in order to produce an egg, a Trainer needs a few things. They need one Pokémon of each gender, or in special cases, one Pokémon and a Ditto. If you're planning on breeding a Pokémon for a certain role, like a physical or special attacker, you'll need for the parents who share those traits."

Blaine pointed at each of the Gardevoir in turn, and stuck a piece of paper in front of the two Fairy-Types, which detailed their stats.

"These two Gardevoir are from the Academy's stock, and both of them were trained as special attackers. This little Ralts here is their child."

Rachel had to restrain herself from squealing at the baby Pokémon. She fondly remembered when one of her friends raised a Ralts into a Gardevoir. But something about that Ralts didn't seem quite right.

"Mr. Anderson? Why is that Ralts blue? I thought they were green."

Blaine smiled, "Glad you noticed, Ms…?"

"Berry. Rachel Berry.

"That's because this baby Ralts is a Shiny Pokémon." The entire class gasped, and leaned forward in their seats. Everyone knew how rare a shiny Pokémon was, and those few Trainers at the Academy that had a shiny Pokémon were considered very lucky. "I know, I know, they're really rare. And this little guy is going to be your motivator for the rest of the class. From now until the end of the term, I'm turning this class into kind of a competition."

Everyone stared at the young breeder.

"Mr. Anderson, if this is to be a competition, is there going to be a prize?"

"Of course. At the end of the term, before we head out for winter break, I'll tally up who has the best grades in the class. The winner will get this little Ralts here, bred by none other than Artie Abrams."

For the rest of class, hardly anyone was paid attention, choosing instead to watch as the little Ralts walked around the room and greeted everyone, watched carefully by his parents. As the bell rang, the shiny Ralts was scooped into his parent's arms before the students all made the mad rush to the door.

Rachel in particular was excited. She'd never seen a shiny Pokémon up close before, and was more determined than ever to rise above the rest of the students.  _Imagine if I win, I'd have a shiny Pokémon on my team!_

XXX

Rachel had managed to get through another day of classes at the Academy, and this time she hadn't hurt herself in the process.  _Progress._

To top off her relatively good day, she realized that tomorrow was the first dorm competition, and that all normal classes were cancelled. Packing up the last of her things and heading back to her room with a smile on her face, she almost ran smack into Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce, wincing as the contents of her backpack spilled on the floor.

"Watch where you're going…oh, hey short stack, what's up?" Santana bent down to help Rachel pick up her things. "You going somewhere?"

"Just heading back to my room to make some final preparations for the competition tomorrow," the diva replied, stuffing the last few loose papers back into her backpack. "That is of course, if Quinn doesn't try to kick me out again."

Santana frowned, wondering if she'd need to have another conversation with the blonde. "Has she been treating you badly?"

"She yells at me and blames me for everything under the sun," Rachel shrugged as she stuffed the last of her pencils into her bag. "But I know she's been through some awful stuff."

"Dude, that doesn't excuse her behavior, it merely explains it. Look, I'll have another talk with her about our rules, are you sure you don't want to switch rooms?"

Rachel's eyes widened and she vehemently shook her head. "No thank you, Santana though I appreciate your concern. I am determined to stick with it. Despite how she may feel about me, I admire Quinn's resilience, and when she  _is_  nice to me, it's quite genuine."

Realizing the diva was putting her foot down, Santana raised her hands in surrender. "Alright then, I'll let you get back to what you were doing again. Can I count on you to be one of the representatives for the opening match tomorrow? We could use your Sylveon."

"Of course, I'll make sure we're ready." As Rachel whirled around to leave she looked back over her shoulder. "The other two dorms are in for a huge surprise."

XXX

Quinn seriously thought about confronting Rachel about the card she had found, but to be perfectly honest, she just didn't care. Diantha had called her, and the two had scheduled a meeting for tomorrow. The Champion had tried to put it off, seeing as the first of the dorm games were happening and she had promised Santana she'd be there, but her mentor had insisted.

So when her roommate walked in with a smile, she couldn't bring herself to bring the diva down. "Hey."

"Oh, hello Quinn. How was your day?"

The blonde shrugged. "Could be better. But then again, it could be worse. Are you going to be competing in the dorm competition tomorrow?"

Rachel grinned and patted one of her Pokeballs. "Santana asked me to participate in one of the battles with Sylveon tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it."

Quinn was impressed. Santana only looked for the best to represent the dorm, and they had only known the diva for a few days. She whistled. "Wow, that's an honor. Make sure to do the dorm proud, okay? If you lose, Santana's gonna rip you a new one."

Rachel's smile faltered for a moment but she quickly recovered. "I'll be sure to do my best then. Have a good night Quinn. I hope to see you there tomorrow."

Quinn heard her retreat to her loft and she settled back down on her bed. See, Quinn. She's competing tomorrow. No reason to drag her down with you. You can always confront her about it later.  _Ugh. Tomorrow is gonna suck._

XXX

"GOOD MORNING KALOS ACADEMY!"

Everyone had gathered at the main arena for the competition, eager to get started, as evidenced by the wild cheers Rachel stood next to Puck, her hands over her ears. "I'm Professor Sycamore, headmaster of the Academy and I'll just be going over the rules for today."

He pointed to a large scoreboard which was currently blank. "All competitions are a little bit different, but today we're starting off with a triple battle! The winning team gets points added to their team's scoreboard. There will be battles and contests going on all morning and afternoon, and at the end of the day, the dorm with the most points is the winner!"

Rachel cheered. This was shaping up to be one amazing day. Sycamore looked down at his tablet and tapped a few buttons. The scoreboard set itself up, a little chibi Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza appearing on the board, with a huge zero underneath them. "The boards have been set, and let the opening battle begin. Would Rachel Berry, Santana Lopez and Noah Puckerman please come to the arena? I'd also like Mercedes Jones, Kurt Hummel, Sebastian Smythe, Blaine Anderson, Sam Evans and Tina Cohen Chang to come on down."

The diva looked awestruck. "You're battling too? I can't believe it!"

Puck grinned. "Yeah, Santana saw footage of our tag battle against Tina and Finn and wanted us to battle with her. I hear it's a great honor."

"It's not going to be easy though, have you heard the names of the others? Kurt's an undefeated Unova coordinator and Blaine's an amazing breeder."

"Relax, dude, we've got a Champion on our side. We're gonna mop the floor with these guys to set Dorm One off on the right track."

Rachel nodded and they walked to the center arena to meet with Santana and shake hands with their opponents.

Santana waved to them, looking determined. "Puckerman. Berry. I'd like to formally introduce you to the other two head residents of the dorms, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson."

The diva shook their hands, still vibrating with excitement. She couldn't wait. Once pleasantries (and thinly veiled threats) were exchanged, they split up to talk strategy for a few minutes while the arena was prepared.

Santana cleared her throat. "Now I'm not sure how familiar you are with triple battles, but in essence it's just a three on three match. However, we've changed it since there are three dorms competing. So now it's a three on three on three match. Teamwork is absolutely essential here, as with nine Pokémon on the field, it can get pretty hectic."

Rachel listened intently, wishing she had brought her notebook to write down every word the Hoenn Champion was saying.

"I like the teamwork you and Berry brought in that double battle earlier this week, Puckerman, so that's why I asked you. You should have no qualms about using the environment and enemy position to your advantage. The fight is over when the other team's Pokémon get knocked out. So it's more about sustainability in this fight than brute power."

Rachel snapped her fingers in understanding. "That's why you wanted my Sylveon. They're known for being a tankier Fairy-type. Mine especially can take quite a few hits, after all, she trains regularly with my Garchomp and Tyranitar."

Santana nodded. "Puck, I know a lot of your Pokémon have high sustainability, so all I ask is that you don't pick Marowak. Its defense is a little lackluster for what I have planned."

Puck grinned and pulled out a Pokeball. "No worries, you want defense? I'll go Beartic then. Who will you choose then?"

Santana thought about it for a moment. "Do you guys think you can protect my partner if I send him out there? He's a lot more fragile but his sheer speed and attack power could really make this team work."

"What about defense, like you said?" Puck looked confused.

"The fight is only over once the other six Pokémon are unable to battle. I figure if the two of you can protect my Pokémon while he takes out a good chunk of the opposition before falling, it'll make the fight a whole lot more manageable."

The diva's eyes widened. "You'd be willing to sacrifice your Pokémon to make sure we have a shot?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Now come on, strategy time's over. It's time to beat the crap out of the other two dorms. Can I count on you two to pull through?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Of course, Santana."

XXX

Santana, Rachel and Puck stood on one side of the arena. It had changed shape during the strategy session to better support the teams playing. To their left stood Kurt, Sebastian and Mercedes, and to their right were Blaine, Sam and Tina.

The crowd had gone silent, as if waiting on pins and needles for the game to begin. Nobody knew who would win, with such strong looking contenders on both sides. Professor Sycamore, Nurse Joy and Brittany Pierce sat at a raised platform, as they were to be the commentators for the battle. Sycamore made one last adjustment on his tablet and the scoreboard turned into a countdown timer.

Five.

Rachel breathed. She could do this, Santana was counting on her.

Four.

Puck was grinning, confident that his Beartic and her Sylveon could enact the plan Santana had concocted.

Three

Santana looked up at Brittany and the two shared a smile. She had to win, had to show Brittany what she could do.

Two

Quinn saw the arena in the distance as she got in the car to go meet with Diantha. Time for damage control.

One.

"Go, Sylveon!"

"Beartic, let's mess them up!"

"Houndoom, go!"

XXX

It was absolute chaos. Nine Pokémon on the field at once. Rachel looked closely at her opponents and noted their strategies.

Kurt had sent out a Roserade, which could spell trouble for Sylveon if it wasn't dealt with quickly. Mercedes had a Krookodile, and it was busy poking a claw at Sebastian's Jolteon.

They seemed to be going for a good mix of offensive and defensive power, and Rachel was wary about what strategy they had under their sleeves.

Dorm Three had gone all out offensively. Sam's Bisharp was pacing back and forth, analyzing weaknesses. Blaine had gone with an Alakazam to complement it, while Tina had gone to her default Crobat to provide aerial support.

"Rachel, I can easily take down the Alakazam, Roserade and Bisharp by myself before my Houndoom gets tired," Santana murmured. The diva was impressed. If the Houndoom managed to take out the Roserade and Bisharp, her Sylveon and Puck's Beartic had a lot less to worry about.

"I'll have Sylveon focus on defense and keeping the Crobat and Jolteon at bay. Mine runs hidden power, so if an opening occurs, it can take out the Jolteon easily if given the perfect opportunity"

Puck whistled. "I'll be switching between offense and defense while the Houndoom's able to battle, then I'll fall back to support when it falls. Good?"

It was as if a pin had dropped and then suddenly the battlefield roared to life.

"Houndoom, Flamethrower!"

Startled at the Champion making the first move, Sam could only watch in horror as the Dark-Type Pokemon charged forward, shooting a jet of orange flame from its jaws. The flames struck Bisharp, bathing the unfortunate steel-type in fire.

From the stands, the commentary had begun, "Ouch, with that incredible opening salvo, Santana's Houndoom roasts Sam's Bisharp. Will his Pokémon be able to handle the heat?"

The answer was a resounding no. The Bisharp keeled over, knocked out of the battle in one savage hit. The Houndoom howled in victory, leaping back to evade an Air Cutter from Tina's Crobat, the other teams having recovered from the surprise attack.

The scoreboard above them beeped, the portrait of the Bisharp going dark. One down, five to go. Rachel and Puck were busy fending off an attack from the Coordinators, while the Houndoom raced towards its next target.

"Sylveon, use Calm Mind!" Her Sylveon closed its eyes and glowed, directing its power inward to increase its attack power and defense. Puck's Beartic blocked any opponents from hurting the Sylveon while it used its ability, buying time for it to finish.

Kurt grimaced when he saw the Sylveon. They were hard to take down on a bad day. And on a good day like this? He wasn't excited. His Roserade could take down the Sylveon with a poison attack, but the Beartic was protecting it from getting hit. The champion Coordinator was so focused in fact that he didn't see Santana's Houndoom until it was too late.

"Fire Fang!"

Fiery jaws closed around the Roserade, startling them both.  _Damn it, I fell for it!_ Another portrait went dark as the Houndoom claimed its second victim.

"Santana Lopez is just on fire today as Houndoom defeats a second Pokémon," Sycamore said. Brittany had seemingly forgotten about the rules about impartial judging and was cheering for the Latina.

The students were clapping maniacally as Dorm one got one step close to victory. The Houndoom was getting weaker though. It had taken out two of the six remaining Pokémon, but had sustained some pretty heavy hits in the process. Santana knew her faithful partner would only be able to take down one more opponent before fainting. She had to pick the right one.

Meanwhile, Rachel's Sylveon was just getting tankier and tankier. It was stacking Calm Minds, and with that done, she had begun working on the second phase of her plan.

"Sylveon, use Wish!"

Nothing seemed to happen, but everyone knew that if no one took out the Houndoom soon, Sylveon's wish would heal it right up. So it needed to be taken care of.

Beartic had switched to defensive support to conserve its energy, only poking at an opponents defenses before sliding back to be with the Sylveon.

"This is my last shot, you two, who do you need taken out?" Santana asked her teammates.

Rachel knew who she needed to have taken out. Tina's Crobat had been weakened earlier when it had been hit with a vicious Stone Edge from Krookodile. Crobat was the only Pokémon left on either team that posed an issue for her Sylveon.

"I need Crobat gone before Tina finds an opportunity to go after Sylveon. My Sylveon may have a lot of defense now, but I'd rather not risk taking a Venoshock to the face before I end this battle."

Santana nodded, seeing that the diva had a game-winning move up her sleeve. "Houndoom, ready to go out in a blaze of glory, my friend?"

The Houndoom yipped happily and gave his Trainer a nod. "Houndoom, use Thunder Fang. Bring that Crobat down."

"Nothing needs to be said as the Houndoom takes down an already weakened Crobat!" The third portrait went dark. "But ouch, that hit probably hurt! Blaine's Alakazam manages to strike the recovering Houndoom with a Focus Blast. I don't think the Houndoom will be able to survive that."

Dorm One booed, but Sycamore was right. Santana's partner had done his job, taking out three of their opponents before falling. The Houndoom's portrait went dark as the battle got into its final stages.

Alakazam was the only Pokémon left on the Breeder's side, while Jolteon and Krookodile remained standing for the Coordinators. Puck and Rachel shared a quick glance with Sebastian and Mercedes, and they nodded.

Blaine gulped. The minute Crobat had fallen he knew this battle was over for him. He was the last one on his side, and with no support, he was fairly certain both Dorm One and Two would gang up on him to take him out. He was right.

"Jolteon, use Thunder Wave!" A wave of electricity arced from Sebastian's Jolteon, stunning his Alakazam.

"Beartic, make him pay for knocking out your teammate. Night Slash!"

Alakazam's eyes widened in terror as the giant Ice-Type Pokémon barreled forward, claws enveloped in a dark energy. It tried to retaliate, but the Jolteon's Thunder Wave had paralyzed it.

"And with that decisive hit, the Breeders are out of this match." The fourth portrait blinked out. "It's now between the Coordinators and the Battlers. Both sides have two Pokémon remaining. Which team will come out on top?"

XXX

Rachel couldn't help but smile. Her Sylveon could easily win this battle. They wouldn't see it coming. "Puck, I can finish this myself."

"You sure? The other team still looks pretty healthy."

"Just stay back for defensive support, okay?"

Puck nodded and called his Beartic back to the defensive line while Sylveon ran forward. He knew when to hang back and let his teammate do the beating.

"Really? A Sylveon against a Jolteon and a Krookodile?" Merceded laughed, looking down at the small Fairy Pokémon. "What makes you think you can beat us alone?"

"This. Sylveon, use Hyper Voice. In case you forgot Mercedes, while Houndoom and Beartic did most of the fighting, I was busy stacking Sylveon's Calm Mind attack."

Comprehension dawned on Mercedes as she tried to direct her Krookodile to retreat. Everything seemed to slow down as the little pink Pokémon raced towards her opponents. Her Krookodile was far too slow, as a wave of sound burst from the Sylveon's mouth, impacting both Pokémon and sending them flying backwards with the sheer force of the attack.

The arena was deathly silent, the only sound being the two resounding beeps as, in one attack, both enemy Pokémon were defeated.

Suddenly everyone was cheering. Puck roared happily, pumping a fist in the air and running over to bear-hug Rachel. Even Santana looked pleased, giving the diva a smile.

"Ladies and gentlemen, its over just like that. In a show of extraordinary power, Sylveon takes out not one, but both of its opponents with a super-charged Hyper Voice attack," Sycamore sounded extremely excited.

"Professor, how can one attack have that much power?" Brittany asked, looking confused.

"You see, Rachel explained it. Calm Mind does much more than increase a Pokémon's focus. It also increases its special attack power every time it uses the move. With the number of times the Sylveon was able to pull off the move during the early stages of the battle, its not surprising that its Hyper Voice hit for that much damage."

Rachel wasn't listening to the commentators anymore as she recalled her Sylveon, a wide grin crossing her features. She had done it. She had won.

The Chibi Groudon on the scoreboard roared happily as the number below it changed from zero to one hundred.

"Now then, that was an extraordinary battle, but that was just the beginning of the day's events. Anything is still possible today. Good luck to all three dorms, may luck be with you as you enjoy the first dorm competition!"


	4. Resilience

_Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and from the moment I was old enough to receive my first starter Pokémon, I knew that I work hard to become the best Trainer in Johto. Fast forward seven years, to my second year in Trainer School and I realized that my dream would be a little harder to achieve than I originally thought. I watched on T.V. as Trainers such as Santana Lopez from Hoenn and Quinn Fabray from Kalos defeated their champions and entered the Hall of Fame, to forever be immortalized._

_So I figured if I wanted to be the best then I needed to go to school with the best. But some things are easier said than done. Welcome to the Kalos Academy and to my story._

**Episode 4: Resilience**

Quinn knew she was in trouble the minute she saw Diantha's face. It was the same face her mentor had whenever she came home late after a night of partying with Brittany and Santana. "You're giving me that look, Diantha. I get it, I fucked up. Can we get this over with so I can go back to the dorm competition?"

Diantha sighed, and gestured for Quinn to get into the car. "Your father called me in a rage yesterday, something about an article?"

They pulled out of the school parking lot and headed towards the Champion's Tower. The name itself was misleading, as it wasn't really a tower. In fact, the PR headquarters of the Pokémon league was only a couple of stories tall and rather nondescript looking.

Quinn released her Glaceon and it settled happily in her lap. "You know my dad, he's always overreacting about everything. I can't count how many times he's threatened to disown me over stupid things like this."

Diantha raised her eyebrows, "It doesn't seem like his usual rage, Quinn, and I think you know that. Is the article right?"

The blonde scoffed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Yes and no. I'm definitely not circling the drain or suicidal, and I'd never resort to taking drugs. But…something kind of hit home for me when the piece mentioned depression."

Her mentor's face softened. She understood, she really did. A young woman becoming Champion, with all of the privilege that came from that title, was a hard thing to bear. Add in all the loss Quinn had experienced and it was no surprise she was asking about it. "Do you think you want to meet with a doctor to discuss it?"

Quinn's eyes widened, almost as if she feared the thought of going to a doctor. "Are you kidding? And have the tabloids run rampant with a story like that?"

"If you wanted the meeting to be super private, the league has plenty of physicians that have taken strict confidentiality contracts. After all, did you hear that Siebold broke his arm recently? He was performing one of his monologues for a challenger when he slipped on the wet stairs and fell."

Quinn knew the injury was nothing to laugh about but she couldn't help but chuckle. She remembered facing Siebold, monologue and all. It was one of her more memorable battles. "No, I didn't hear that he broke his arm. Oh…"

Diantha smiled. "The league has plenty of resources Quinn, you need only ask if you want to use them."

Feeling a little better about her chances, Quinn nodded. "I'll have to really think about it, but I might just check them out. Would my father hear about it?"

Diantha knew that the one person Quinn feared above all was her father and to be honest it made her sad. Russell should be a father to his daughter, not a manager and PR watchdog. "Russell would not hear about it from our people, only you would have the power to tell him."

Quinn breathed a sigh. Good. "In that case, can you get me some information today while we're at the tower?"

"Of course. Now, heart-to-heart aside, we've got to deal with this article. Buckle up Quinn, this is going to be a long day. Damage Control is never pretty."

XXX

As the day progressed and a multitude of battles went on, the scoreboards kept beeping as the dorms fought for first place. Rachel found herself watching many of them, impressed that the other two dorms were able to keep up with theirs.

For being focused on Coordinating and Breeding respectively, Dorms Two and Three were still amazing at battling. Puck was by her side for most of the day, pointing out people and Pokémon, and regaling her with his tales of being an Elite Four's son.

"So there this guy was, one Pokémon left, while my dad still had three of his team. I could see him shaking, looking at my dad's Lucario."

"I've seen your dad's Lucario on TV before, it's one of his most powerful Pokémon right?" Rachel grinned when Puck puffed out his chest proudly.

"Yeah, that Lucario is beast. My dad promised to give me one of the Riolu he's bred when I graduate," the mohawked boy said excitedly. "Anyway, the challenger was scared out of his wits and my dad just stood there. The poor bastard ran screaming from the fight, leaving his Venusaur on the field."

The diva gasped, "That poor Venusaur! The guy came back for it, right?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah, but he then got a pretty serious verbal beating from my dad about responsibility. I've been on the receiving end of one of those conversations and let me tell you, it is not a pretty sight."

The rest of their conversation was interrupted when the scoreboards changed, showing a direct feed to the judges platform. "Good afternoon Kalos Academy, I hope your day of battling was fun."

The students cheered. "What's going on?" Rachel muttered.

"As you can see, the dorm currently in the lead is…" The boards switched briefly back to show the numbers. "None of you. I am both extremely pleased and surprised by this. We haven't had a tie like this in seven years."

The crowd started muttering. If no one was in the lead, how were they going to announce a winner? "A tie? What happens when there's a tie?" Rachel asked Puck, but he shrugged his shoulders and mouthed  _no clue_.

"Not to worry, we have contingencies for events like this so if you'll please all come down to the Training Forest area in the next half hour we'll get everything worked out."

The feed went dead, returning to the tied scoreboard and the crowd broke out into hushed muttering. "You know when they say the word contingency I get nervous," Rachel muttered. She had only been here a few days but she had a sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen.

XXX

"A race?" Santana asked, raising her eyebrows. She was standing with Blaine and Kurt, along with the three judges for the day, discussing the tie-breaking event.

"A marathon of sorts," Sycamore explained. "Each dorm will select one Trainer with a Pokémon that they can ride comfortably. They will then run a race to determine the winner of the first games. Attacks will be allowed, and before you can all grab a Trainer with an Arcanine, the move Extremespeed is grounds for disqualification."

Kurt swore under his breath, a second from contacting one of his coordinators. Santana stifled a snort, she should have known that he would try something like this. Sycamore went on to explain the race boundaries and expectations before Nurse Joy jumped in to explain her bit.

"Now, while attacks are allowed, I need to clarify a few things. You may not target a Trainer and their Pokémon directly. I'm sure all of you have been on the receiving end of a misdirected attack and you know how dangerous they can be."

Blaine raised his hand. "So no moves like Seed Bomb or Hydro Pump are allowed, right?"

"Correct. Moves that slightly enhance speed and stamina are allowed, like Agility and Rock Climb, but not game breaking ones like Extremespeed. We will have aerial cameras and support watching the race from above, so if we see any moves like that we  _will_  pull you out and your team will be disqualified."

All three Dorm heads nodded in understanding. Brittany jumped in. "I've sent the schematics of the course and a recap of all the rules to your tablets so you can share them with your dorms when you meet to pick a representative. Good luck guys."

The meeting dismissed, Santana immediately ran through the list of people she would pick. At the top of the list, no question, was Quinn Fabray. Her Zebstrika was blazing fast, she had seen its speed before.  _Oh yeah, with Quinn on our side, there's no way we can lose!_

XXX

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO ONE'S SEEN QUINN ALL DAY?" Santana was breathing heavily, a murderous look in her eyes as she stared down at the gathered members of her dorm. "Well where the fuck is she?"

Rachel looked a little bit scared. She had never seen Santana angry before, and she was quite determined to never be on the receiving side of that anger. "I don't know where she could be, we talked a little this morning before I left, she said that something came up."

Santana growled, and shot off a message to the judges about needing a quick delay to find another representative. "We're fucked six ways from Sunday then. Quinn was my number one seed to run this race."

Karofsky snorted, "I don't know why you're surprised. This isn't the first time Ice Bitch has failed to show up for something."

"Quiet, Karofsky, I need to think," Santana quickly ran through her ever dwindling list of people. Not that one, Extremespeed was banned. Nor that one, their Gogoat had pulled a muscle earlier in the day. This was not looking good for their dorm, and she was starting to regret making those bets.

"Seriously though," Karofsky continued, ignoring his head of dorm's order. "Have you guys even read that article about her? I think our "Champion" is losing her touch. I wonder if she really has turned to drugs?"

The gathered students started to nod in agreement.

"Would you shut up about Quinn?" Rachel snapped, whirling around to face the bully and staring him right in the eyes. "I have had enough of your snide remarks about her. Quinn's going through a very hard time right now and frankly I am ashamed of all of you! She is twice the Trainer you all could ever hope to be, and yet you're tearing her down to feed your own insecurities. It's absolutely despicable."

"Are you volunteering to take Fabray's place, Berry?" Santana asked. Rachel wasn't her first choice, but the fact was, they needed a fast team, and Rachel and her Typhlosion were their best bet. She was  _not_  about to eat at Sandy's food truck for the rest of the year.

"I am," Rachel affirmed, calling out her Typhlosion and storming off to the starting line to inform the judges about the change in roster. She could hear her dorm-mates muttering rude things behind her back.

The second she stepped foot on the starting line with her Typhlosion, she transformed into a completely different person. Rachel was always confident, but now, with a challenge in front of her, she became much more than a diva. She became a fighter.  _I'm taking Quinn's place to prove those assholes wrong. I know I'm good enough to win this thing._

Typhlosion huffed next to her, and knelt down so she could climb on his back. He growled menacingly at the competition, and to his credit, at least the Sawsbuck looked a little nervous.

"Rachel?" Kurt called from atop his Rapidash, "What are you doing here, I thought Quinn was racing for your dorm?"

"Something came up I guess, and no one else was willing to step up to the plate." She took a deep breath, ignoring the raucous crowd and syncing her breathing with that of her starter's.

"That's either really brave or really stupid, do you know what will happen to you when you lose this event?" The Rapidash snorted and pranced around on its back legs. Kurt effortlessly soothed his Pokémon by gently rubbing circles on the Fire Pokémon's back. "Santana will crucify you."

Fully focused now, Rachel turned to face the top-tier coordinator. "That's why I'm not losing today. See you at the finish line, Kurt."

Kurt smiled, and tightened his grip on the fire-proof reins. He could definitely see why Rachel and Quinn were having a hard time getting along.  _They're both stubbon as a Tauros._

A gun went off and the race began.

XXX

Rachel surged forward on her Typhlosion, quickly settling into a fast, yet comfortable pace. The Sawsbuck was behind them, and the Rapidash in front, but she was confident about her pacing. Santana had sent the schematics to her tablet and she had easily memorized the layout. It wouldn't give her a huge advantage, but anything would be helpful, especially since her Typhlosion didn't have the inherited speed that her opponents had.

She spotted one of the aerial cameras above her, and she urged Typhlosion to go a little faster. Those cameras were the student's lifeline to the race, providing live feed of the race to the gathered students and judges. They would be racing in a very large square, ending up back where they started. As long as she tried to stay in range of the cameras at all times, it would be nearly impossible for her other two opponents to break the rules and attempt to attack her.

Kurt was still ahead of her, his Rapidash's silver mane and tail waving in the wind. Of all the competitors, Rachel was worried about him the most. He was just as confident as she was and she could tell that his Rapidash had plenty of experience with working under pressure and in front of a crowd.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the Breeder on top of the Sawsbuck had a sinister plan up his sleeve. He had resigned himself to losing when he heard that Quinn Fabray would be representing Dorm One, but now that hat had changed, he was free to go after his opponents.

It didn't matter to him that he was currently in last place, he could still easily see the other two. So when Trainer and Sawsbuck passed through a particularly thick clump of trees, he stopped. Making sure the cameras wouldn't be able to see him, he whistled once. A bush rustled behind him and another Breeder walked out, leading an identical Sawsbuck on a halter.

Of course it was cheating, but technically there was nothing in the rules about substituting a Pokémon mid-race. He quickly attached the saddle and reins to this new Sawsbuck and mounted it, giving the other breeder his tired-out mount. "You know what to do?"

Blaine Anderson nodded, clipping the lead to the first Sawsbuck. "I do. I don't like this one bit, but I'm sure as hell not having our dorm lose this race. I'd rather cheat and win than lose and eat at Sandy's food truck for the rest of the year. Go. Win this for us."

The rider saluted, and clicked his teeth, urging the Sawsbuck to run. "I'll see you later on in the race then. And don't worry, we got this. I'll win for us, whatever it takes."

Blaine watched his representative run off. "I hope you're right, Hunter. Whatever it takes." The Sawsbuck next to him nickered and he ran a hand down its neck. "Yeah, you're right. There's time to feel bad about this when we win."

XXX

Rachel was fairly certain that they were about ninety-five percent done with the race. And she was in first. Her strategy of running at a quick yet steady pace went over well, as she had passed Kurt and his Rapidash, who were recovering after spending a lot of energy on the first leg of the race.

She saw the finish line in front of her, past this clump of trees, and she could barely hear the crowd cheering. She smiled.  _We're gonna win this._

Suddenly she was falling, her Typhlosion losing his balance and skidding on the dirt. She hit the ground hard, letting out a cry as her Typhlosion fell on her right leg, pinning her to the ground.

"Nice try, loser," a voice sneered, and she saw the Breeder atop the Sawsbuck surge forward toward the finish line.

Her leg was killing her, her starter whining in pain himself. That…bastard! He had tripped up her Typhlosion. She prayed the cameras had caught the obvious foul but it then occurred to her that he wouldn't have tripped her if he thought he would get caught. And they were still far enough away from the finish line that the crowd wouldn't have caught the play.

Kurt and his Rapidash were still behind them, so Rachel decided that if they were going to lose then at least they wouldn't come in last.

_Santana's gonna kill me either way._ She managed to help push her starter off of her injured leg, but only managed to move a few inches before crying in pain.  _I can't do this._

XXX

Suddenly, Rachel was no longer in the race, but back in her old dorm room at the Johto Academy, watching the final battle between a young, accomplished Trainer and the Champion of the Kalos League. Back then, she didn't even know the name of the girl who would soon become a region-wide celebrity.

Diantha was no easy Trainer, that much was certain, but even so, the beautiful blonde with the captivating hazel eyes stood her ground without so much as blinking. The Champion had already lost five of her Pokémon and was down to her last one, a powerful Gourgeist.

The entire world held on with bated breath to see what would happen next. The challenger had also lost a fair bit of her team, and was down to her last teammate as well. She had a strange strategy though. It was as if she had tailored her team to specifically fight in a certain way, switching her Pokémon in and out if they so much as missed an attack. In fact, the audience had only seen five of the challenger's Pokémon. She held in her hand her last hope.

"I'm impressed, not many people could have come this far," Diantha told the blonde. "But you're down to your last Pokémon as well, so unless you have some sort of ace, I think we can call this battle over."

The challenger turned her head, clutching her last Pokéball in her hand. Just as the cameras focused on her face, she smirked. "It's not over until someone gives up. And I've never been a quitter."

Diantha frowned and called her Gourgeist in close. "Very well, show me what you've got."

The challenger tossed her Pokéball with a fiery energy and shouted for all the world to hear, "Dante, let's win this battle!"

And the rest was history.

_It's not over until someone gives up._ Rachel's vision swam in front of her, but she pushed herself up off the ground, ignoring the throbbing pain running down her right leg. Grabbing onto her Typhlosion's shoulder to steady herself, she began limping towards the finish line.

The Sawsbuck had slowed down considerably, as the Trainer on top of it was certain that they had won. Rachel saw a flash of silver behind her, which signaled the presence of the Coordinators and their Rapidash. "We can't give up, Axel. That's the reason we started training, to make something of ourselves."

Her Typhlosion growled in agreement, and his eyes began to burn bright red. He knew what to do. Using the last reserves of his strength, he lifted Rachel up over his shoulders until she rested safely on his back and let loose with a Flame Charge. Fire engulfed Trainer and Pokémon, and the crowd stood on its feet in shock as the two of them blazed across the finish line less than a second in front of the breeders and their genetically perfected Sawsbuck.

Quinn watched the end of her race on her tablet from the back of Diantha's car. She may have been too late to race herself, but she had seen her dorm pull out victorious. And she smiled.  _Nice going, Rachel._

XXX

That night, the fun was in full swing as the school celebrated the first semester games with a party that put even the hottest of clubs to shame.

There was a loud  _pop!_ as Santana opened the bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling soda and began pouring the drink in the cups of her dorm-mates. "Let me start this party off by saying just one thing! We fucking won, bitches!"

Everyone cheered and clinked their glasses together, taking a moment to revel in the celebratory atmosphere. Since Dorm One came away from the event victorious, the entire courtyard was draped in various shades of red, from the tables and glasses to the walls and the dance floor. Even the pond had been retrofitted with red pool lights to give the entire area a glowing red aura.

Santana was proud of her dorm for winning the competition, especially considering the risks she had made on their behalf. Yeah, sure, perhaps it wasn't the smartest thing to do, wagering her classmate's food privileges, but it had sure as hell paid off.

She had been so close to breaking Quinn Fabray's face when the blonde hadn't shown up to the final event. If Rachel Berry hadn't been there to save the day…

A slow cheer began building in the air as the said savior entered, flashing a mega-watt smile and overall looking very pleased with herself. Santana called her over, "Hey short stack, get over here!"

"Good evening Santana, enjoying the party?" The diva looked a little tired and was limping slightly, something that Santana didn't fail to notice.

"Hell yeah, now that everything's over and done with. How about you though? You look a little worse for the wear."

Rachel took the offered drink and settled down in one of the chairs. "Nurse said that she should just keep a bed in the office for me, but I digress. At least I didn't break my leg, just badly bruised."

"And your Typhlosion?"

"Getting a well-deserved rest along with the rest of my team."

"Good. Then you have time to celebrate with us. I should tell you what your victory this afternoon earned us in terms of privileges. Tell me, Rachel, have you ever eaten at Sandy's food truck?"

Rachel's smile quickly disappeared as Santana told her the story, to be replaced with a look of horror.

At the main stage, Professor Sycamore tapped the microphone to quiet the students. "Once again, thanks to everyone who participated in today's games, I hope they were fun. But now we have a trophy to give out."

The red students began cheering wildly.

"Yes, yes, settle down, settle down. As you can see by the color theme tonight, the winner of the first of the year's dorm competitions is….DORM ONE!"

Sycamore produced a trophy from behind him and handed it to Santana. "Miss Lopez, on behalf of the faculty, congratulations. Would you like to say a few words to your cohorts?"

Santana nodded, accepting the trophy with a grin. "I'd first like to remind the other two dorms about their newly obtained obligations. I wish you losers luck, you'll need it. I'd also like to thank all the Dorm One students who fought today, this trophy is yours as well. But most importantly I'd like to thank the one who made it all possible for us. Even though she was injured in the process, she never gave up and pulled out the win for us. Let's hear it for RACHEL BERRY!"

Rachel gasped as the crowd started chanting. "Berry! Berry! Berry!" Puck was grinning like a madman, leading the chant with gusto.

The crowd was so focused on Rachel that no one noticed a certain blonde sneaking into the party.

XXX

Quinn couldn't help but smile at the chanting going on. She had seen Rachel's spectacular finish on her tablet. Her resilience was amazing, to continue fighting after getting injured like that. It made her think. She knew now for certain that her roommate wasn't the source for the article on her, and it eased her mind.  _I knew Rachel wasn't a bad person._

But then who did? Who invaded her privacy in such a serious manner? She had spent all day at the Champion's Tower, doing damage control and coming up with a course of action. She would sic her father's lawyers on the unfortunate reporter and see how far they got. Quinn may not have the best relationship with her father, but he did have resources.

Still, it was enough to make her head spin. Politics were stupid. She grabbed a drink from the table, and downed it in one gulp before grabbing another couple and leaving. The party would likely go on for at least a few more hours, and she wasn't in the mood to explain to people why she hadn't been there.

As she left, she walked past a sign saying: Teacher's Beverages. Alcoholic. No Students Allowed. Student tables across the courtyard.

XXX

Kurt Hummel watched as Quinn downed her alcoholic drink and he frowned. Why on earth was she stealing drinks from the teacher's table?

Blaine noticed his boyfriend's concerned gaze and bumped shoulders with him. "What's up with you?"

"Quinn's gone and grabbed the drinks from the teacher's table. Those have alcohol in them, the students are supposed to stay away from them."

"Kurt, what is the big deal about Quinn getting a little drunk?" Blaine asked, tilting his head in confusion. He didn't see any problem whatsoever with someone getting a little tipsy now and again.

"Quinn could never hold her alcohol well," Kurt told him. "Last time we went out to a club, she had two shots and started hitting on everyone she met. She kissed Brittany and Santana wouldn't talk to her for a month. Now granted, everyone at that place was a little drunk, so nobody minded, but we're here at the Academy. If they catch her under the influence, a huge scandal could erupt. I'm sorry to cut our date short, Blaine, but I have to follow her and make sure she doesn't make an ass of herself."

Blaine waved his boyfriend off and shot him an understanding smile. "I get it Kurt. You take care of your friends, and I think it's a very honorable thing to do. Look, you know where to find me once you make sure Quinn's okay, I'll be around."

Kurt smiled, and turned tail to follow the blonde Champion as she walked down the hall, looking a little dazed. Blaine was the best boyfriend ever, and Kurt was constantly amazed at how lucky he was to have met him.  _Quinn, you are so gonna owe me for this. I'm not letting this boy get away._

XXX

"No Daddy, I'm having the time of my life over here," Rachel said into the phone, and twirling her fingers around the MVP medal Santana had given her. "I think I've finally found the place where I belong. Yes, Growlithe is doing great, he's getting bigger every day."

She caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned around to lock eyes with Quinn Fabray. Rachel couldn't put her finger on it, put  _something_  seemed off about her roommate. "Daddy, I'll call you tomorrow, my friends are pulling me back into the party. Yeah, I love you too."

Hanging up on her father, Rachel reached out to touch Quinn's shoulder as she passed, and gasped when the Champion whirled around to face her. "Berry, fancy seeing you here," the blond slurred.

"Are you drunk?" Rachel accused her, taking the blonde's hands in hers and looking her straight in the eye. Quinn's pupils were dilated and the diva detected the faintest of tremors in her heartbeat as she grasped the Champion's wrists. "You are! Where did you even find alcohol?"

"That doesn't matter. Tell me, midget, why aren't you scared of me? I haven't exactly been the nicest person to be around, and you have to live with me."

Rachel sighed and leaned back against the wall, letting go of Quinn's hands. "Look, Quinn, despite your behavior towards me since I arrived, I can understand where you're coming from. I lost a teammate once too, and I thought I would never recover. I lashed out at everyone until I had driven everyone away. I'm not gonna let that happen to you."

Quinn trembled and suddenly rushed the shorter girl, pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Rachel."

Warily, Rachel returned the hug, trying with all her might not to fangirl out at that precise moment for physically touching the Champion. She realized now that the blonde's prickly exterior and dare she say it, sometimes outwardly rude behavior, Quinn Fabray was just human.

She had all of that responsibility and power thrown at her the minute her Charizard struck the winning blow against Diantha, and then to have her anchor ripped away from her so suddenly and so painfully. Rachel understood now. "Quinn, I—"

Any question on the tip of her tongue was cut off as Quinn leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. It was hesitant at first, a feather-light touch that Rachel almost didn't register, until the blonde stepped back, uncertainty swimming in her eyes. "Shut up, Berry."

Rachel touched her lips in confusion, then pulled Quinn back in by her hips and kissing her once again, fiercely this time.  _I'm so gonna regret this in the morning._  "Make me, Fabray."

The clock struck midnight as they touched, the fireworks going off both figuratively and literally, the cheers of the students muted in Rachel's ears as her heart beat in time with Quinn's. Neither one of them noticed the bright flash of a phone going off.


	5. Slipping

_Hi, my name is Rachel Berry and from the moment I was old enough to receive my first starter Pokémon, I knew that I work hard to become the best Trainer in Johto. Fast forward seven years, to my second year in Trainer School and I realized that my dream would be a little harder to achieve than I originally thought. I watched on T.V. as Trainers such as Santana Lopez from Hoenn and Quinn Fabray from Kalos defeated their champions and entered the Hall of Fame, to forever be immortalized._

_So I figured if I wanted to be the best then I needed to go to school with the best. But some things are easier said than done. Welcome to the Kalos Academy and to my story._

**Episode 5: Slipping**

Rachel was pretty sure her entire brain turned off the second she pulled Quinn in for another kiss. When she had started the process of coming to the Kalos Academy, it was to eventually become friends with the Champion but this? This was so much more.

_Wait, what am I doing? I'm kissing a very drunk Quinn Fabray. Wait, I'm kissing the Kalos Champion, I can't be doing this!_

Though every fiber of her being told her to keep her arms wrapped around the blonde, she forced herself to break away from the contact. It was a good thing she did, too, for not a second later, Quinn fell into her arms, clearly unconscious.

Rachel cursed, trying her best to keep the two of them upright and almost failing miserably. Her leg was throbbing, and the extra weight was not helping her situation. She fumbled around her belt and pulled out one of her Pokémon.

"Garchomp, a little help here," she grunted, releasing the giant shark Pokémon from its ball. It blinked impassively at its Trainer struggling to hold up the Champion. "Come on, you big lump, she's heavy."

The Garchomp huffed, but easily picked up the unconscious Quinn Fabray, holding her gently in its claws. It glared pointedly at Rachel and she sighed.

"You can judge me later, I'd like to get her up to our room before anything else happens."

Her Pokémon nodded and they headed up to the room, trying hard to avoid getting seen by any other students.  _This was not how I expected my night to end._

XXX

Shouldering the door open so her partner could walk through, Rachel asked her Garchomp to set its quarry on the bottom bed, before recalling it and placing her Pokémon in their overnight healer.

"You know you're really not making things easy on me," she told Quinn, brushing away a stray lock of hair from the Champion's face. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. "I was just getting used to us not being at each other's throats."

Rummaging around in Quinn's drawers, she pulled out a comfortable looking T-Shirt and pants, setting them at the foot of the bed. Walking into the bathroom, she grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the medicine cupboard and filled a glass up with water.

Placing both down on the nightstand next to the bed, she set about taking off Quinn's shoes and pulling a blanket over her to keep her warm.

"You're gonna wake up with a hell of a hangover tomorrow. Hopefully you won't remember the kiss either, I don't know how I'm gonna explain that."

Rachel turned off Quinn's table lamp and retreated to her loft to put her pajamas on. As she was getting ready for bed, her thoughts kept flashing back to that damn kiss. Feeling her cheeks color, she hurried to finish her evening routine before flopping into bed.  _Tomorrow's another day. Please say she won't remember, please let her forget._

She repeated that mantra in her head until she fell asleep.

XXX

The sun was shining through a gap in the window by Quinn's bed and she resisted the urge to groan. Fuck, her head hurt. The last time she had felt like this, she had kissed Brittany and Santana had slapped her.

But unlike last time, someone had helped her into bed, and there was even a glass of water. Quinn saw the bottle of aspirin, and all but grabbed it as she downed two of them and attempted to lever herself into a more upright position. Her dorm may have won the competition, but classes were to resume promptly the next day, leaving no room for excessive partying. So why did she feel as though an elephant had trampled on her face?

She spotted a small pink post-it note attached to the bottle of aspirin and smiled softly.  _Quinn, you looked like you had a rough night, so I dug up some aspirin for what I'm sure is going to be a monster headache. –Rachel_

Speaking of Rachel, it sounded like her roommate was currently in the shower, judging by the soft singing coming from that direction. Quinn was thankful that Rachel wasn't belting out her songs in the shower like she usually did. Resigning herself to rather crappy day, she grabbed her clothes and quickly got changed before checking on her Pokémon.

She was just about to knock on the door and ask if Rachel was done hogging the bathroom, when it opened, steam billowing out to reveal her roommate in a towel. "Oh. Quinn, I didn't expect you to be up this early."

"Yeah, well who could possibly sleep with all the racket you're making in the shower," the Champion groused, though her insult lacked its usual bite.

Rachel's eyes widened. "I wasn't trying to be loud, I swear, sometimes I just get going and I can't stop…"

"Relax, you're not  _that_ annoying. The hangover from hell decided to show up and I thought a shower would help. What the hell happened last night?"

The brunette blushed and stepped out of the bathroom, doing her best not to slip on the wood floor and avoiding eye contact with Quinn. The Champion instantly got suspicious. She threw out an arm to stop the diva and Rachel's blush only intensified.

"Rachel, what happened?"

Her roommate mumbled something unintelligible and Quinn arched an eyebrow. "You…may have gotten drunk and kissed someone last night."

"I what? Oh fuck me." Quinn ran a hand through her hair and tried her best to recall what happened after she went to the party. Unfortunately all she remembered was picking up a few drinks from what she thought was the student table. "Who was it? It better not have been Brittany, I'd rather not get slapped again."

Rachel merely stuttered and clutched her towel even tighter as she shouldered her way past Quinn to get dressed. "It…wasn't Brittany. It was dark, but I'm sure she was a brunette. The two of you seemed  _very_  into it."

"You didn't stop us?" Quinn asked, looking surprised. Perhaps she was so used to having her every move scrutinized, it came as a shock that Rachel didn't intervene. Wait…brunette? "I didn't kiss Santana last night did I?"

But her roommate didn't answer, rushing out of the dorm room with her hair still wet. Odd. But she guessed Rachel had the right to be a little uncomfortable, especially if she had witnessed Quinn kiss another girl. "Ow, that's way too much thinking."

She glanced at her tablet and wondered how much trouble she'd get into for missing her morning classes.  _Eh, what's the harm? I can always say I wasn't feeling well. I definitely don't feel like going to class and confronting Santana. Yes. Plenty of time for that later. More sleep now._

XXX

 _That was way too close._ Rachel looked over her shoulder to check if Quinn had followed her, but the hallway behind her was empty. "Oh my god, never again."

"What's never again?" a voice said and she jumped.

"Puck! Nothing, I was just thinking to myself." Rachel tried to regain her composure as best she could, and continued walking to her morning class. "Did you finish that paper on inherited values for breeding that Blaine assigned?"

The mohawked boy's face was completely blank, so the diva deduced that he likely hadn't done it at all. "I guess I didn't finish that paper."

To his credit, he at least looked a little embarrassed. But he easily shook it off, a winning smile crawling back on his face. "No, Puck, I'm not going to let you copy off my paper."

"Worth a shot," he shrugged. "Hey, are you doing anything after class today? You're still pretty new to the Kalos region in general, I thought maybe I could show you around downtown."

Rachel beamed, and nodded her head. "I'd love to. This is my stop, Puck, but…" She turned on her tablet to check her schedule. "My last class lets out around 2:30 today, I can meet you then."

Puck couldn't help but smile. "Awesome. I'll see you at 2:30." He watched as Rachel entered the classroom and waited until she was out of earshot. "Yessss."

His tablet beeped and he went to check it, smile still plastered on his face at the thought of getting to hang out with Rachel. It quickly melted off his face though. Angered, he threw his tablet against the wall and the screen cracked.

A picture of Quinn Fabray kissing Rachel Berry flickered back and forth on the screen before the tablet turned off.

XXX

The next time Quinn woke up, it was 11:30 and she was feeling a lot better. She still had a headache, but it had thankfully devolved. The lunch period would have just gotten started, so she had time to take a shower and get ready for her afternoon classes.

Her tablet buzzed from her desk and she jumped up to answer, praying that it wasn't her father or Diantha. She didn't feel like explaining anything. Her expression turned into confusion though when she saw Santana's portrait.

"Santana? What are you calling for?" She couldn't hear much from the other end, there was too much noise in the background.

"Fabray? Where are you?"

"My room, where else would I be sleeping off the hangover from hell? Is something wrong?"

Santana snorted and beside her, Brittany mumbled something along the lines of, "Santana, it's not funny."

"Nothing's wrong, Blondie, but you should stay where you are. Me and Britt are coming up. Be there in five." She hung up abruptly.

Quinn huffed, and decided to forgo her shower until her friends left. It must've been something relating to last night. Oh, how she wished she could remember what happened. Taking a moment to at least make herself look slightly presentable, she waited for the knock at the door.

Santana burst in, grinning from ear to ear, Brittany trailing along beside her. "I didn't know you got busy last night, Blondie. I'd congratulate you, but judging by the look on your face you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. Jesus, how hammered were you?"

The Champion was starting to get a little suspicious. Things weren't adding up. "What are you talking about, Santana? I got drunk last night, and kissed someone. According to what little I  _do_ remember, it might have been you."

The Latina raised her eyebrows and burst out laughing. She turned on her tablet and shoved it in Quinn's face. "You didn't kiss just  _anyone_ last night, Fabray. You kissed your roommate."

The blonde's memory all of a sudden came rushing back. She  _had_  talked to Rachel, and she had said something about losing a partner before. Everything after was blurry, but she had remembered a somber kind of fluttering in her heart, like something suddenly made sense to her. "I kissed  _RACHEL?"_

Brittany nodded, and tensed, ready to throw herself in between the two Champions should things devolve into an argument. She was sure they were about to, with Quinn's mouth hanging open and Santana barely holding onto the tablet, she was laughing so hard.

"So Quinn, I love the whole sexual tension dynamic thing you've got going on with Berry, but tell me. Are you two LLBFF's yet?"

There it was. Quinn's muscles tensed just slightly, and Brittany wasn't fast enough to stop her as the Kalos Champion slapped Santana across the face.

Santana's grin faded and she growled, slapping Quinn right back with just as much force.

"Stop the violence, you two," Brittany pleaded, stepping in to separate the two of them.

"She started it," Santana was edging away from Quinn, waving off Brittany's attempts to look at her cheek. "Damn, but if I'm not impressed. You can throw a slap, Blondie."

Quinn was seething with rage. It explained everything. Her roommate's nervousness around her, not wanting to talk to her. "God damn it, Santana, it's not like I meant for it to happen. And how in the hell did someone manage to take a picture of us?"

"Hey, all's I'm saying is that you looked like you enjoyed it, so what's the harm in that?"

"The  _harm_ is in my father getting his hands on that picture and turning it into a national scandal," Quinn hissed. The last thing she wanted was for her father's people to find out.

Santana's brows knit in concern. She hadn't thought about it like that. Exhaling deeply, she ran her hands through her hair and thought up with a plan. "Okay, well we do have one advantage. Whoever took this sent it over the school's messaging network, which means unless someone personally decides to leak the story, this photo will only be seen by the school."

"Oh yeah, having the whole school know I kissed Rachel is perfectly fine," Quinn scoffed.

"It's better than having the world know. Remember, we're all under a strict contract. That means that if someone wants to come forward and brag about this, they'll be expelled faster than you can say Jolteon."

For once, Quinn was thankful for her school's over-the-top policy on secrecy. "I guess at least I have that. But I spent the entire day of the dorm competition at League HQ doing damage control after that first article. I literally cannot afford for  _this_ ," she gestured at the picture, "to get out."

"Relax, Quinn. Your newest secret is safe. Alls you gotta do now is face the student body and explain."

The Champion scowled. "Yeah, cause that's gonna go over well."

XXX

"Hey, are you the reporter who published the story on Quinn Fabray?"

Kalos News Network reporter Rod Remington jumped in his chair, half expecting the voice to belong to another one of Russell Fabray's pet lawyers. Part of him regretted having published the story, if only to save what was left of his dwindling professional reputation. Sure, it had gotten him back in the good graces of his superiors, but his financials were beginning to suffer after Russell sicced some of the region's best lawyers on his ass.

He managed to escape most of the trumped up invasion of privacy charges they had levied against him, but his freedom was literally bought with most of his savings. Courtroom fees were a bitch. So needless to say he was not excited to see yet another student from the Academy approaching him.

"What do you want, kid? I'm busy."

"Karofsky gave me your name and number and said you were the guy to go to."

Rod blinked. The damn Karofsky kid was gonna get him in trouble. He tried to feign indifference, but it was clear that it wouldn't work. "Look, I can't pay you nearly what I did him, in case you hadn't noticed," he gestured to the pile of paperwork in front of him, "going after Quinn Fabray wasn't my smartest plan."

"I don't care about a lot of money, I just want Quinn Fabray knocked down a few pegs."

Now he was intrigued. He'd be an idiot to turn down free information. Carefully shifting his paperwork to one side, he motioned for his newfound informant to sit down. "Alright kid, talk to me. What do you have?"

A tablet embossed with the Academy crest was tossed to him, a single picture on the screen. Rod's eyes lit up with glee. "I told you you'd like it."

"Well let me say that with  _this_ , I can certainly knock Miss Fabray off her pedestal. And I'm fairly certain her father would throw a fit. We have a deal, Mr…."

"Hudson. Finn Hudson."

XXX

For the first time in his life, Noah Puckerman had absolutely no idea what to do. Usually he'd be fine with bullshitting his way through everything, but this was Rachel Berry he was talking about. He turned to Mike and Sam, "Guys, I don't know where to take her this afternoon."

Mike raised his eyebrows, "Why are you stressed about this? You said so yourself, it's not a date."

Sam grinned, "Besides, I think we all know she likes blondes. And girls."

Puck shoved him off his chair and he hit the floor with a thud. Admittedly he overreacted when he had first seen the photo between the two of them, but Rachel had explained everything.

" _Me and Quinn? I have no idea what you're talking about. Oh. You saw the picture."_

" _Yeah, no shit I saw the picture. I had no idea you were into girls."_

" _I'm not_ strictly _into girls. I experience attraction to both males and females. It's…wait, why am I even talking to you about this?"_

" _Rach, you can't just go around making out with the Kalos Champion, it's bad form."_

" _I didn't, I…don't you look at me like that Noah. I know you've done worse."_

" _The point being, I may not know much, but I've seen her dad before and trust me, that's one dude you do_ not _want mad at you. I just wanna keep you far away from the Fabray family and their drama."_

" _Noah, while that's sweet and noble and all, I don't think you have to worry about it. It won't happen again."_

Mike snapped his fingers in front of Puck's face, trying to bring the mohawked boy back down to Earth. "Dude, you okay? Your eyes went blank for a second there. And like, not the kind of blank they get when you get asked a question in class."

Puck brushed off his concerns. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Better than good, I got an idea for the perfect place to go. Rachel hasn't been off-campus to see the city yet, I'll take her for a walk around downtown."

Sam flashed him a thumbs up.

XXX

"You have a  _motorcycle?_ " Rachel looked dumbfounded as Puck handed her his spare helmet. "Of course you do. Can you even legally drive this thing?"

"Course I can. Dad got it for me as a going-away present when I left to go to school here. So, Rach, I know you haven't been able to see much of the city that surrounds the Academy, how does a ride downtown sound to you? We can stop at one of the local Pokemon marts too, I hear they're thinking about starting up a weekly tournament for kids."

Rachel beamed at his obvious excitement. And truth be told, she was looking forward to an afternoon away from the school. She hadn't gotten a single moment to herself ever since the picture of her and Quinn went viral. People were looking at her in a whole new light, and to be honest she wasn't sure  _this_  was the kind of fame she had in mind.

"A ride downtown sounds fun, Noah." Putting the helmet on, she made her way over to Puck's bike, wrapping her arms around his waist for balance as he revved up the engine and drove past the wrought-iron academy gates, sending the security Mightyena that were on patrol into a barking frenzy.

Twenty minutes later they stopped at the Hero's Mark, one of the most popular toy stores in the city. It was a small store, wedged in-between a pharmacy and gear shop, but it was filled with games for both Trainers and Pokemon, and judging by the long line at the register, people loved it here.

"How did you find this place?" Rachel asked, looking at a display table covered in training toys for baby Pokemon. She picked up a toy bone that promised to be as tough "As a Tauros" and hummed, taking it with her as they continued to look around. Her Growlithe would love it, the poor thing was starting to get his adult fangs and was teething like no other.

"Hey, Rach, look at this, do I look like Diantha?" Puck called from a rack of clothes that were supposed to be inspired by the Kalos Champion herself. He looked ridiculous as he modeled a white crop top and bag, strutting back and forth down the aisle to laughter from the people around him.

"You're a spitting image of the woman herself," she assured him, and the smile she got in return made her heart flutter. "Hey look, I've always wanted to play this game!"

Puck hung the clothes back in their proper place and followed the brunette over to the demo table, a section of the store where people could sit together and play popular games from the store's stock. Rachel pulled a box from the shelf and showed it to him, laughing at the look of shock on his face. "Are you sure you want to try this one?"

Rachel tutted and began setting the game up, motioning for him to join. "What's wrong Puckerman, you scared?"

He narrowed his eyes at the blatant challenge and shook his head. "Are you going to ask the questions first or will I?"

"I'll go first, and the first one to five points is the winner, deal?"

"Deal, hit me with your best shot, Shorty."

"How long has your father been a member of the Kanto Elite Four?" Rachel looked at the answer printed on her card and waited for him to answer what should have been the easiest question of all time. But by the look on Puck's face, the poor guy had no idea.

"Shit, uh…" He tried to do some quick mental math, but was coming up blank. So he took his best guess. "Eleven years?"

He was immediately shocked with a small bolt of electricity, and he had to bite back a very bad word, mindful that there were little kids in the store. "Wrong. Thirteen years. What are the three starting Pokemon usually given to trainers in the Sinnoh region?"

Puck's heart stopped. Fuck, this was going to hurt. He heard Rachel laugh again and he decided that getting shocked wasn't so bad if he could see her smile.

XXX

Quinn was sitting in a cold, sterile waiting room, twiddling her thumbs and practically vibrating with nerves. Her beloved Glaceon seemed off this morning after their battle class, and she had rushed to the local clinic downtown as soon as her day was done.

Ugh, the entire place smelled like antiseptic and latex and she just wanted to get out of here. It just brought back bad memories of her time spent in and out of hospitals when Dante was sick.  _Relax, this is nothing like what happened to Dante. You're the Champion goddamn it, calm down._

"Miss Fabray? You can come back now," a nurse called. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Quinn gathered up her things to follow the nurse back into the examination room.

Her Glaceon was curled up in a ball on the exam table, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here. One of the clinic's Chansey was chirping reassuringly as it passed Quinn a sheet of paper that was filled with test results, none of which the blonde could understand. "Is Aeolus going to be okay?"

The nurse smiled widely and nodded. "He's going to be just fine, just the Pokémon equivalent of a cold. I've given him some medicine to ease his breathing. I'd keep him on bed rest for a couple of days to make sure he recovers completely, but there's nothing else Chansey and I noticed."

Quinn sighed in relief, trying not to let her true emotions show. She had of course known that the chances of Glaceon being sick like Dante was were almost zero, but it still didn't stop the irrational part of her brain from worrying. "Thank you guys so much, I don't think I would have worried as much but…"

"There's no need to explain," the nurse cut her off with a small smile, handing the Champion a small bottle of pills. Everyone had heard about the Champion and her fallen Charizard and she knew how the girl must be feeling. "I'll send you home with a few more of these, give one to Glaceon every evening for about a week. Of course if anything changes, we're here to help anytime."

Quinn nodded, tucking the bottle of pills in one of the front pockets of her backpack and scooping up Glaceon so he could rest in her arms. With one last thanks, she signed the required paperwork and left the clinic, glad to be free of the place. Her Glaceon did indeed look a lot better, and was now looking off into the distance at something, his ears wiggling back and forth. "What is it Aeolus, what do you see?"

Aeolus yipped once before bouncing out of Quinn's arms to give chase to whatever it had seen. "AEOLUS, get back here! Damn it!"

She tightened the straps on her backpack and gave chase after her Pokemon, cursing under her breath about how stubborn her Glaceon was.  _And it looks like it might rain, how great._   _This day really couldn't get any worse._

XXX

Storm clouds were gathering in the distance when Puck and Rachel left the toy store. She had went ahead and bought the bone chew for Growlithe, and the two of them were going to stop by the pharmacy next door so Puck could restock on Full Restores for the coming weeks before heading back to the Academy.

"Do you wanna wait by the bike or come inside with me?" Puck asked. "I'll only be a couple of minutes."

Rachel waved him away, saying it was fine and she'd rather wait outside and enjoy the clouds. He nodded, setting his helmet on the bike and walking into the store. Rachel took a deep breath, clutching the straps of her backpack and looking up at the darkening sky above her. The storm didn't look too big, but it still brought a welcome change from all the sun they'd been having recently.

She got lost in her thoughts for a minute, thinking about Puck and Quinn, her studies and that little shiny Ralts in her breeding class. She liked Puck, she really did, he made her laugh like no one had before, and he was incredibly nice. Literally the complete opposite of Quinn Fabray, who was prickly on the best of days. But occasionally she let Rachel see underneath her armor, and what the brunette had seen made her yearn to get to know the Champion better. Quinn liked photography, as evidenced by the photos placed all around their room, and was a gifted trainer who loved all of her Pokemon.

_Her Glaceon is a really strong Pokemon too, I remember in her big fight against Diantha when her Glaceon took out Diantha's Tyrantrum in one hit. It's what made me want to get an Eevee of my own…_

Suddenly, as if fate had read her mind, a blue blur shot past her, almost stepping on her feet as it zoomed past her. Was that…?

Rachel felt the need to give chase after the mystery Glaceon, and she carefully placed Puck's spare helmet on the bike, shooting off a quick message to his tablet that she has gone to check something out before giving chase.

The Glaceon was fast, but Rachel had been training with her own Pokemon for years and had built up plenty of stamina to be able to keep up with the runaway Pokemon as they ran down unfamiliar streets. It wasn't looking where it was going though and soon stopped in the middle of a street, breathing heavily. A car barreled down the street, heading straight for Glaceon, who was now busy coughing as if something had gotten in its throat.

Rachel's eyes widened and she broke into a dead sprint, calling out to the Pokemon, "Look out!"

The Glaceon turned to her, the car getting closer with every passing second. Rachel put every ounce of power she had in her stride, ignoring the twinge of pain still left behind from her race and scooping the Pokemon up in her arms and diving to the side a second before the car shot past them, with what looked like a very scary woman in a tracksuit behind the wheel.

"Get out of my way, midget!" The woman roared, flipping them off as she turned another corner and drove away.

Rachel sat dumbfounded at the woman's hostility, still holding the Glaceon in her arms. Turning it around to look at her, she saw that its nose was running a bit, which would explain why it had started coughing in the middle of the street. "You belong to Quinn, don't you?"

The Glaceon nodded at the mention of his Trainer's name, and sniffed at the girl's uniform. He seemed to recognize the red tie and black pin, deciding that this girl was safe to be with.

Rachel, for her part, was trying not to freak out. She was holding one of the region's most prized Pokemon in her arms, and was doing her best to not imagine what Quinn would do to her if she found her holding her Pokemon. "I need to get back to Puck and the bike."

She dusted herself off and gently placed the Glaceon in her backpack, giving his ears a quick scratch before looking at her surroundings.  _Which were not familiar at all…_

"Oh damn it."

And as if the sky heard her, it began to rain.

"Double damn it. Come on Glaceon, we have to find our way back to the Academy."

XXX

Quinn placed her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Her Glaceon was always a speedy little thing, and she hadn't been keeping up with her usual standards of exercise since returning to the Academy. The rain was falling in earnest now, so she decided she needed a little bit of help to find Aeolus. "Garm, I need your help, buddy."

With a flash, her trusty Aegislash appeared, and it warbled at her questioningly. "Aeolus ran off, the stubborn little bastard, think you can help me track him?"

Garm nodded, closing his eye, a second later sending out a pulse of sound from his shield. Opening his eye, he pointed to the west. "Thanks."

Quinn recalled him before pulling an umbrella out of her backpack and following in the direction her Aegislash pointed. "You damn stubborn little Glaceon…"

She walked for maybe twenty minutes before she saw her traitorous little Glaceon sitting in a mystery someone's arms under the cover of a bus stop as the rain continued to fall. As if it heard her approaching, Aeolus yipped and jumped out of the person's arms and towards his Trainer.

"Glaceon, where are you…? Oh, Quinn, hello."

"Berry? What are you doing out here? More importantly, what are you doing out here in the rain with my Pokemon?"

Rachel's eyes widened and she looked as though she hoped the Champion wasn't angry. "I'm sorry, but I was out with Noah to explore downtown when I saw your Glaceon run past me and I gave chase."

But to her surprise, Quinn didn't yell at her, she simply gave the brunette a wry smile. "Aeolus has always been hard-headed, I had to take him to the clinic today for some cold medicine and he didn't take it very well. Thanks for finding him and keeping him safe."

Rachel was relieved. "I'm glad I could help you, Quinn. Now maybe you could help me. I have literally no idea where I am or how to get back to the Academy."

Quinn dug her tablet out of her backpack, and handed it to the brunette, quickly charting a course to the League HQ so they could catch a ride back to school. "I was going to head back to the League Headquarters once we got done at the clinic. Diantha was going to give me a ride back, you're welcome to come with. It's the least I could do."

Rachel looked a little stunned at the blonde's friendliness, but she figured since the two of them were on more "neutral" territory, away from school, Quinn probably wasn't feeling so pressured to keep up appearances.

"I'd appreciate that a lot, thanks." They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Rachel navigated them to their destination. "Quinn?" The blonde hummed an acknowledgement as they walked side by side. "I'm sorry I kissed you."

The Champion turned to her, "Why are you apologizing? By the look of things I initiated it, and should be the one apologizing to you."

Rachel shook her head vehemently. "You were clearly intoxicated and I took advantage, so for that I sincerely apologize."

Quinn looked nonplussed by it all and nodded. "Whatever you say, Rachel."

They both stopped for a second, realizing that this was the first time Quinn had called Rachel by her actual name. Or rather it was the first time she called Rachel by her real name while sober. Both of them stood stock still, neither one willing to start talking. Rachel cleared her throat, "Um…"

With no warning, a bus zoomed by them, sending a torrent of dirty water straight for them. Quinn quickly adjusted the grip on her umbrella and turned it so it protected both of them as the water crashed down, soaking the umbrella but leaving both girls unharmed.

"Let's get out of this rain before anything else happens," Quinn mumbled, readjusting her umbrella again and refusing to look her roommate in the eyes. "Why don't you call Puckerman and let him know that you're getting a ride back with me."

"Of course," Rachel replied hurriedly, tapping Quinn's tablet and trying to call Noah. But after several rings the line went dead and she frowned. "I'll try again in a bit, maybe he already headed back to school..."

She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of any errant thoughts, but her mind just kept wandering back to Quinn Fabray and how she had effortlessly protected the two of them.  _This girl is kind of amazing!_

XXX

" _Hey Noah, I don't know if you got this message, but I'm catching a ride home with Quinn, we met up while you were getting your things. I had a really fun time today, thanks again so much for showing me around…Oh, we're here? Wow, Quinn, this is a nice building. Uh, anyway, so sorry for leaving on short notice, I'll explain later. Bye!"_

Puck held his tablet with white knuckles, doing his best to take deep breaths. A long crack ran down the tablet's screen, courtesy of when he had thrown it against the wall this morning in anger. And now it had the unfortunate tendency to drop half the calls and messages he received, making it pretty much useless.

So Rachel had met up with her roommate. Of all the people she could have met, it had to be the Champion of the Kalos region. He growled, chucking his broken tablet in his bag and revving up his bike, day thoroughly ruined now.

The rain had finally dwindled down to a light drizzle, but that did nothing to elevate Puck's mood as he tore off back toward the Academy.  _Damn that Quinn Fabray._


End file.
